Severe Behavior Disorders of Children and Youth: Introduction

Abstract

This issue of Education and Treatment of Children marks the 29th issue of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders Monograph Series on Severe Behavior Disorders of Children and Youth. The 13 articles published here represent a peer-reviewed sample of papers originally presented at the 29th Annual Teacher Educators for Children with Behavior Disorders Conference held in Tempe, Arizona in November of 2005. This volume is devoted to providing in-depth information on the education and treatment of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Consulting editors from both Education and Treatment of Children and Behavioral Disorders, as well as additional reviewers from the field, were responsible for reviewing and selecting these articles for publication. These articles address a number of issues and challenges, suggest a number of programmatic strategies, and propose directions for future research and practice for students with EBD. The issue begins with the Rick Neel's keynote address at the TECBD conference in November 2005. Neel responds to the many challenges and possible opportunities for children with EBD presented by No Child Left Behind legislation. He offers two snapshots of how opportunities for collaboration and cooperation between general and special educators and new technologies can enhance the education of children with emotional and behavioral disorders. The next two articles focus on the impact of function-based interventions on the behavior of students with or at-risk of behavior disorders. Kathleen Lane, Jessica Weisenbach, M. Annette Little, Andrea Phillips, and Joe Wehby provide two successful illustrations of teacher-designed and implemented (as opposed to university personnel led) function-based interventions for students identified as at-risk for EBD. They suggest that general education teachers are able to design and implement function-based interventions, playing a key role in all stages of the systematic process. Carl Liaupsin, John Umbreit, Jolenea Ferro, Annmarie Urso, and Gita Upreti examined the effectiveness of a systematic process for identifying the function of a 14-year-old 7th grader's problem behaviors and designing interventions that directly addressed that function. The researchers collected data from a descriptive functional assessment to develop function-based interventions in multiple classrooms resulting in substantial increases in the student's academic engagement. In the fourth article, Hal Jackson and Rick Neel, in a descriptive observation study, examined the degree to which students with EBD have access to National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards-based curricula and instruction. They found that students receiving their instruction in special education classrooms are not likely to access standards-based content. Further, they reported that general education teachers appeared to present standards aligned curricula and organized instruction differently than their special education colleagues. The next two articles focus of functional communication training for a young child with autism spectrum disorders and the efficacy of social skills treatment for children with Asperger Syndrome. In the first article, G. Richard Mancil, Maureen Conroy, Peter Alter, and Taketo Nakao examine the effectiveness and efficiency of functional communication training in decreasing problem behaviors, increasing communication mands, and increasing spontaneous communication with a child with Asperger Syndrome in his home environment. In the second article, Lisa Elder, Linda Caterino, Janet Chao, Dina Shacknai, and Gina De Simone provide a description of the nature of Asperger Syndrome and provide possible treatment options, specifically focusing on the efficacy of social skills programs for clinic and school populations. The authors suggest that social skills deficits are a common problem for children with Asperger Syndome and that systematic evidence-based social skills training can have an impact on these students. …