Assistive Technology For Students With Socio- Emotional Behavior Disability
Author : Pearl Alimo
Defining Socio-Emotional Behavior Disorder /Impairment
The Michigan State Board of Education defines Emotional/Behavioral as 'the manifestation of behavioral problems primarily in the effective domain, over an extended period of time, which adversely affects the person's education to the extent that the person cannot profit from learning experiences without special education support'. Students of all ages and in different learning settings may exhibit socio-emotional disorders.
Defining Socio-Emotional Behavior Disorder /Impairment
The Michigan State Board of Education defines Emotional/Behavioral as 'the manifestation of behavioral problems primarily in the effective domain, over an extended period of time, which adversely affects the person's education to the extent that the person cannot profit from learning experiences without special education support'. Students of all ages and in different learning settings may exhibit socio-emotional disorders.
Characteristics of Students With Emotional and Behavior Disorders
Individual students with socio-emotional behavior disorders are varied and exhibit them in different settings- School or academic classroom settings and or out of school learning environments such as Day Care Centers, Youth Programs. Such students usually exhibit one or more of the following characteristics :
1) Impulsiveness
2. Low self-esteem
3.Inattentive, distractible, Pre-occupied and have poor concentration
4. Unable to listen and follow directions or instructions
5. Care less about classroom rules
6. Have difficulty playing in small or large groups
7. Have difficulty sharing and taking turns
8. Demonstrate aggressive behavior- grabs, hits, pushes
9. Uses fists instead of words to express themselves
10. Intimidate and bullies other students
11. Anxiety, Anger and obsessiveness
This article also outlines characteristics of children with socio-emotional behavior impairment.
Individual students with socio-emotional behavior disorders are varied and exhibit them in different settings- School or academic classroom settings and or out of school learning environments such as Day Care Centers, Youth Programs. Such students usually exhibit one or more of the following characteristics :
1) Impulsiveness
2. Low self-esteem
3.Inattentive, distractible, Pre-occupied and have poor concentration
4. Unable to listen and follow directions or instructions
5. Care less about classroom rules
6. Have difficulty playing in small or large groups
7. Have difficulty sharing and taking turns
8. Demonstrate aggressive behavior- grabs, hits, pushes
9. Uses fists instead of words to express themselves
10. Intimidate and bullies other students
11. Anxiety, Anger and obsessiveness
This article also outlines characteristics of children with socio-emotional behavior impairment.
The Youtube video below talks about the most important challenge for teachers and parents with students with socio-emotional behavior disorder- Supporting Students with Emotional and Behavior Disorder.
Video credit-Youtube.com
Video credit-Youtube.com
AT Technologies and Instructional Technologies for Students With Socio-Emotional Behavior Impairment
The Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988 defines Assistive Technology as 'any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially or whether off the shelf, modified, or customized, that us used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of people with disabilities'
Federal regulations require that every student with socio-emotional impairment or any kind of disability be provided assistive technology.Assistive Technology serves as learning aids and positive behavior supports to release their full potential. Facilitating the performance of students with Socio-Emotional Behavioral Disabilities (EBD) can be a challenging yet rewarding experience. There are quite a number of Assistive Technologies available for students, parents and teachers/educators. These include social skills applications that can be downloaded and used. Examples of Assistive Technologies for students with Socio-Emotional Behavior Disorder include but not limited to the following:
![]() www.modelmekids.com
This AT have videos that demonstrate social skills by modeling positive peer behaviors |
![]() GoalTracker
GoalTracker amotivates students to perform their chores and also gives them the opportunity to reward themselves with stickers when they accomplish a set of daily or weekly tasks. |
![]() http://www.classdojo.com ClassDojo Improves specific student behaviors and engagement by awarding and recording real-time feedback |
![]() http://thesocialexpress.com/
The Social Express helps students to make friends and build meaningful relationships. |
![]() ![]() The Motivator
The Motivator or Timer serves as a reminder for students who are easily distracted to accomplish tasks. |
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AT technologies that help improve the academics of students with socio-emotional behavior
To help students with Reading skills the following assistive technologies can help them.
1. The Kurzweii 3000 Has features for reading, writing and comprehension 2. Echo Smartpen helps students capture what they hear in the form of note taking |
WritingSkills
![]() The following Assistive Technologies can help students with socio-emotional disorder improve on their writing skills. 1.ActiveWords Active words trigers actions related to words. 2. Sentence builder helps elementary aged children learn how to build grammatically correct sentences |
Math Skills
![]() Electronic math work sheets, paper-based computer pen and talking calculators are some of the assistive technologies that help students with Math skills. The following products can be considered 1. Math Talk -helps students voice out their own work and can even print if they want to. 2. Talking Calculators -vocalizes numbers and symbols and also help students solve math problems. |
Learning and Studying Skills
![]() The following Assistive Technologies can help students improve their studying and learning skills by helping students to organize, practice, or remember material and assignments. The following products can be considered. 1. Picture schedules -give students visual reminders of what is happening and or going to happen for smooth transitions. 2.Electronic organizers- help students organize personal calendars or address books. 3. Palm computers-serves as a personal assistant to students who need help managing their time. |