Emotional Impairment - Parents

Students with emotional impairments or emotional behavioral disorders are not a monolith. There are lots of different characteristics of children with emotional disorders. There are three things that these children tend to have in common: challenges with emotional development, challenges with behavioral development, and challenges with cognitive development.

Sometimes students with emotional disorders also have a mental health diagnosis to go with it: anxiety, depression, OCD, etc. These diagnoses need to come from a mental health professional. Your child will likely benefit from behavioral assistance from the school social worker and/or a therapist.

Behavior Contracts: The ADHD - parents tab here has a lot of information on Behavior Contracts, which are beneficial for children with emotional impairment, ADHD and other learning and thinking differences.

Downloadable Behavior Contract

Here is a link from the Michigan Alliance for Families on Emotional Impairment

References

Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities. (n.d.). Emotional disturbance. Project IDEAL. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from http://www.projectidealonline.org/v/emotional-disturbance/