SED may stop classifying students as having 'emotional disturbance'

On Board Online • March 16, 2020

By Cathy Woodruff
Senior Writer

State officials are considering revising an old label used for a condition shared by roughly 5 percent of students receiving special education services around New York.

"Emotional disturbance" was the diagnosis specified for nearly 24,000 students in New York schools in 2017, the most recent year for which figures were available from the State Education Department.

The same special education category was previously called "severe emotional disturbance" in New York State, and it informally has been modified to "emotionally disturbed" for use as an adjective describing students with the condition.

Some say the term is unnecessarily harsh.

"The term 'emotional disturbance' is not one that people in our district are comfortable with," said Superintendent Dean Goewey of the Oswego City School District. "The term 'disturbed' or 'disturbance' - it's not kind. It suggests that the child is broken."

Terms used by some other states include "emotional disability" and "behavioral disorder."

New York's version of the emotional disturbance category stems from federal regulations, which set out 13 disability classifications that can qualify a student for special education. Characteristics identified by the federal (and state) regulations for the emotional disturbance designation cover a wide range.

The indicators can include: "inappropriate" behaviors, inability to build interpersonal relationships or an "inability to learn" that is not explained by certain other reasons. Also on the list are mental conditions including depression and schizophrenia.

"This is a term that the field has expressed concern with, since it can carry with it a negative connotation and stigma," SED officials said in a written explanation of the decision to study a change. "So, we are taking the opportunity to explore some alternatives."

At their meeting in January, members of the state Board of Regents agreed to consider replacing "emotional disturbance" in New York's special education lexicon.

No particular alternatives were mentioned, but SED staff provided a chart listing seven variations used by other states: 27 states use "emotional disturbance" or "serious emotional disturbance;" 12 states use "emotional disability" or "serious emotional disability;" eight states use a variation of "emotional/behavioral disability or disorder;" and two states use "emotional impairment." One state, Iowa, uses "behavioral disorder."

Mental health practitioners around the country also have expressed discomfort with the term, pointing to the word "disturbance" as particularly problematic.

Their concern has grown in the wake of mass shootings and other incidents in which the perpetrator is alleged to have suffered with mental illness.

"We are constantly battling the perception that people who have a mental health problem are, somehow, inherently violent," said Amy Molloy, a project director for the Mental Health Association of New York State and a member of the Queensbury school board in Warren County.

"We recognize that it can be very disabling to have anxiety or depression. It's disabling, but it's not disturbing. 'Disability,' I think, is a much more sensitive term than 'disturbance,'" said Molloy. "Language matters."

Children and teens with an emotional disturbance can have difficulty regulating their emotions, "and they need some help," said John Garruto, a school psychologist in Oswego and the current president of the New York Association of School Psychologists.

"But as terms become used in popular culture, they often will take on a negative connotation," Garruto said. "For example, someone might say: 'That person is disturbed'," reinforcing the stigma associated with the diagnosis.

Federally supported research has found that students classified as emotionally disturbed are no more likely than other students to be school shooters. They are, however, at greater risk for academic problems.

An analysis of federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) data published by Education Week in 2018 found that students with emotional disturbances had lower graduation rates and higher dropout rates than other students in special education.

Eliminating a stigmatizing label could help put students with emotional disturbances on a more promising path to success, educators and mental health advocates told On Board.

"One of the most important things we can do for someone is to ensure that we are giving them their dignity," said Garruto.