Mental Health and IEPs

If you've followed or read my blog prior to this, you already know that I am a huge mental health awareness advocate, and that my commitment extends well beyond my profession as an OT working in special education.  My oldest daughter had a mental health diagnosis and was on an IEP, with the primary disability category of "Emotional Disturbance," which is one of the 13 disability categories in the state that we live in (ND).  Now, that being said, my daughter was very intelligent, gifted in many ways, and her cognition was not an issue.  Her academic performance was not impacted in terms of her ability.  But, her ability to carry out tasks/her executive functioning was inhibited by her disability, and her disability impacted her interpersonal relationships, both with peers and with school staff. 

I very often feel that kids with mental health issues fly under the radar, or are under served in the special education realm.  I see it a lot in my practice in the school system, and I have to admit that it really irritates me as a mom who knows the ropes a bit more than the average person does.  Even special educators have indicated to me that they don't feel a child with emotional concerns (whether there is a formal diagnosis or not) would "qualify" for an IEP because they are fine academically/cognitively.  Every state's Department of Public Instruction will have guidelines and criteria for serving students with mental health issues, and the name of the disability category that mental health fits under may vary from state to state.  But, regardless of the title of the disability category, it is IMPERATIVE that the multi disciplinary team (MDT) look at the whole picture when determining if a child's emotional health adversely effects their educational performance.  "Educational Performance" is not limited to academics and grades in this instance.  According to the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, the following criterion must be considered when considering if a child's mental health/emotional health is effecting his/her educational performance:

"Adverse Effect on Educational Performance":
The MDT must determine that the emotional disturbance has an adverse effect on the student’s educational performance and his/her ability to receive reasonable benefit from the general education program.

The emotional disturbance has an adverse effect on the student’s educational
performance, preventing the student from receiving reasonable educational benefit from
general education, as evidenced by one or both of the following criteria:

• Academic functioning: an inability to receive reasonable educational benefit from general education that is not the result of intellectual, sensory or other health factors, but is due to the identified emotional disturbance; and/or
• Social/emotional functioning: an inability to build or maintain interpersonal relationships, which significantly interferes with the student’s social development. Social development involves those adaptive behaviors and social skills that enable a student to meet environmental demands and assume responsibility for his or her welfare.

This reminds the MDT that the definition of “educational performance” includes interpersonal relationships and social development. The team must identify that the emotional disturbance has an adverse impact on one or both of these items.

The above excerpt was taken from the following publication:
"Guidelines for Serving Students with Emotional Disturbance in Educational Settings"
SPECIAL EDUCATION IN NORTH DAKOTA
North Dakota Department of Public Instruction
Kirsten Baesler, State Superintendent
Office of Special Education
600 E. Boulevard Ave., Dept. 201
Bismarck ND 58505-0440

Be sure to look up your state or area's criteria/guidelines for determining if a child's educational performance is being impacted by a mental health diagnosis or emotional issue.