Response to School Phobia

Response to Social & Emotional Disorders-School Phobia

Question 1: How is your disability defined by the federal and state laws?
Learning Disabilities- Organizational Skills- According to Congress, “Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.”
A learning disability is a condition that causes significant learning problems, most often related to reading and writing. It is a disability of unexpected underachievement that is typically resistant to treatment. Learning disabilities often begin with a language problem at a young age and soon evolve into a reading disability.

Social & Emotional Disorders- School Phobia- An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances; a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

Question 2: What are the developmental characteristics of persons with this disability?
Learning Disorder Characteristics— Learning disabilities may lead to various characteristics that are: academic, social, behavioral, or all three. Some examples of academic characteristics are unexpected underachievement, inability to solve problems, uneven academic abilities, inactive learning style, poor basic language skills, poor basic reading and decoding skills, inefficient information processing abilities, and inability to generalize. Some examples of social characteristics are: immature, socially unacceptable, misinterprets social and nonverbal cues, makes poor decisions, victimized, unable to predict social consequences, unable to follow social conventions (manners), rejected, naïve, shy, withdrawn, insecure, and dependent. Lastly, here are some examples of behavioral characteristics: inattentive, distractible, hyperactive, impulsive, poorly coordinated, disorganized, unmotivated, and dependent.

Social & Emotional Disorder Characteristics—Some characteristics of school phobia are not wanting to attend school, creating excuses no to attend, being absent a lot, complaints about not feeling well, headaches, stomach pains, and nausea or dizziness.

Classroom Strategies, Needs, and, Strengths- There are several things teachers can do to accommodate a student in their class with special needs. For example, if a student has a learning disability the teacher can teach organizational skills to help students overcome or reduce their learning disability. Teachers should target the right skills, set goals and expectations high, use validated instructional procedures, and support students as much as possible. Doing these simple things can make a difference in the student’s education. Educators should also begin teaching the foundations of reading, sound-symbol awareness; phonological awareness; letter fluency; and phonics for example, during preschool years. This can easily decrease a child’s learning disability before it becomes severe. Early intervention is extremely important. The preschool years are very important because this is when the foundation for learning is set. During their preschool years, children begin learning to develop basic skills naturally. However, some children need help, so it is important that an educator is actively involved.
If a child has school phobia, his or her teacher can find the source, devise a plan, monitor the situation, and set up a meeting with that particular child and their parents, or if it was a problem at home a pediatrician or psychologist may need to set up a meeting with the child. Then, the teacher could encourage the child, by planning fun activities that they might like, so they would see school is fun to attend. If the child was embarrassed because he or she was not doing well in the classroom I would schedule and day to have he or she tested for special education services.