2016 TASH Conference

Schools are facing a growing population of students who are not making progress in the regular classroom due to their underlying emotional/behavioral challenges. We term these students "Cognitively Able but Behaviorally Unmanageable" and they present a challenge to even the most seasoned educator. Data from the American Academy of Adolescent Psychiatry suggests that 49.5% of children have mental health issues significant enough to require support. Schools are seeing the value of whole class social emotional programs and there is a large push to bring programs to the classroom. Yet, these programs that are targeting students with emotional/behavioral deficits, are not designed to support their very special needs. Just as we differentiate programs for academic needs, it is time to differentiate the social emotional programs for our students with emotional needs. Studies(fMRI) have identified that deficits in the limbic system of the brain are a cause of emotional dysregulation for disabilities such as Autism, ADHD, and EBD. Further, compelling new research shows the benefit of a cognitive behavioral approach to treatment. This session will review the research(2014-16) on Emotional Regulation and its link to Autism, EBD, ADHD, and NVLD. A review of current treatment options to manage behavior will be discussed relative to current research. Specifically, we will examine if the current traditional behavior programs used in schools are keeping up with current research, or if they are using research that has since been updated. This session will present new methods that are expressly developed for the targeted population and are based on the new research indicating emotional regulation as a core feature of the disabilities. Using more targeted approaches to teach students vastly improves their emotional regulation skills. Improved emotional regulation leads to an increase in time spent in classrooms and time on learning. By the end of the session participants will a)Have an in depth and comprehensive understanding of the new research on Emotional Regulation. b)Understand how Emotional Dysregulation impacts a student with ASD, ADHD, EBD etc. as negative behaviors often require removal from a regular classroom. Ÿ??Discuss and analyze the current programs and strategies in place to manage the behaviors that result from diminished ER abilities. Ÿ??Utilize a new and proven method to teach strategies to manage ER in classrooms using technology based on Cognitive Behavioral Theory.