Emotional Disabilities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Emotional Disabilities - Essay Example The crucial issue for teachers and federal and state authorities issue is to be able to differentiate between misconduct and emotional disability (Doty, 20003). With regards to history, a child or student to be eligible for emotional disability, pertinent evaluations are conducted. The school must conduct psychological testing by a trained school psychologist and the testing includes cognitive testing and social/emotional measures through rating scales, interviews and observations (School Psychologist Files, 2006-2007). In addition, to rule out environmental factors, a socio-cultural evaluation is done by a social worker with a parent of the child to determine a developmental history (School Psychologist Files, 2006-2007). Another issue that poses a challenge to school authorities is determining whether a child has emotional disability/disturbance or is socially maladjusted. A guide used by an educational agency in Michigan addresses this issue by drawing a matrix of characteristics in terms of behavior to differentiate emotionally disturbed and socially maladjusted students (School Psychologist Files, 2006-2007). In terms of definition, the eligibility of a child or student for having emotional disability is currently determined according to criteria set by Individual with Disabilities Act, Public Law 101-476 (Carrol n.d.