Scale Emotional Disability Characteristic Scales Inability to Build/Maintain Relationships Inappropriate Feelings/Behaviors Pervasive Mood/Depression Physical Symptoms/Fears Parent T-Score 8th grade ELA Teacher T-Score 8th grade Math Teacher T-Score Self T-Score CURRENT SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ASSESSMENT: Emotional Disturbance Decision Tree (EDDT) The EDDT is a standardized, norm-referenced scale that assists in the identification of children who qualify for the federal special education category of emotional disability. The EDDT addresses the five qualifying conditions (e.g., inability to build or maintain relationships, inappropriate behaviors or feelings, pervasive mood/depression, and physical symptoms or fears) on which identification of emotional disability is based, as well as scales for both the inclusionary and exclusionary criteria covered in the federal criteria, including an assessment of Social Maladjustment. 53 49 57 57 65 59 81 71 54 55 79 94 59 65 64 86 Total Score Resilience 54 58 70 69 71 47 Items in bold are considered to be within the high or very high clinical range, items in 8 4 0 3 8 9 4 0 6 6 Self T-Score 8th grade Math Teacher T-Score 11 3 0 4 8th grade ELA Teacher T-Score Scale Clusters Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Cluster Possible Psychosis/Schizophrenia Cluster Social Maladjustment Cluster Level of Severity Cluster Educational Impact Cluster Parent T-Score italics are considered to be within the moderate clinical range. 18 15 0 5 Items in bold are considered to be within the high range, items in italics are considered to be within the moderate range. Ratings completed by ***********, his math teacher, and his English/Language Arts teacher from 8th grade indicated observations of a pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression and physical symptoms and fears that were impacting his educational performance; his mother indicated that she also saw some mild observations of these characteristics, but following his hospitalization she has seen a lot of improvement in his moods and some of the difficulties he had been experiencing. Statements that ***********’s teachers indicated that *********** demonstrates frequently to almost always include (‘*’ indicates two or more raters indicated the statement being observed; “italics” indicates his mother indicated the statement being observed; “bold” indicates *********** indicated the statement being observed): - Avoids talking to peers Inability to Build/Maintain - Avoids playing/socializing with peers Relationships - Talking with people is hard for me - I act strange compared to other kids Inappropriate - I am very different from other kids Behaviors/Feelings - I look at things in a weird way - Is emotionally flat/unanimated - Displays deteriorated self-care/hygiene/concern about personal appearance Pervasive Mood of - Appears sad/depressed/hopeless Unhappiness/Depression - Appears dejected/unhappy - Shows little interest/excitement about social interaction - Avoids taking even normal day-to-day risks if he can / I worry about making mistakes - I worry about bullies - Worries about a frightening past event * / I worry about bad things happening Physical Symptoms/Fears - Reports nightmares/other sleep problems - I don’t like being in big crowds - Worries more than siblings/peers / I worry more than other kids - I worry about school The Resilience Scale (parent and self-reports only) measures child resilience factors in areas of personal strength, adult connections, social skills, and other resources that bring together areas recognized as composing the basis for resilience. Students who obtain a T score of 59 or lower on this scale have adequate or better resilience factors and are likely to have inner strengths and other resources that will assist them in confronting frustrating obstacles and social emotional problems as they arise. ***********’s mother’s score of 58 is considered average, and may suggest that he has resources in place to help identify and develop inner strengths to utilize when confronting social-emotional problems; ***********’s score of 47 indicates that significant resilience factors are present. *********** indicated observing some characteristics of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in his responses, which may be contributing to some of ***********’s school adjustment problems. ***********’s mother, teacher, and counselor indicated no concerns to a mild level of concern. As part of this evaluation, raters indicated how frequently they observed a series of characteristics in ***********; these may indicate a need for further evaluation. Items that raters noted as having observed sometimes to frequently included (‘italics’ indicate more than one rater having observed the behavior, ‘bold’ indicates that *********** has observed the behavior; “underline” indicates that a respondent indicated having observed this in *********** almost always): behaves in strange/unusual manner compared to peers/I act strange compared to other kids; displays deteriorated self-care/hygiene/concern about personal appearance; my thoughts don’t make sense; I think people are out to get me; claims that voices tell him to do things/I hear scary voices that tell me to do bad things; displays hallucinations/delusions/I see people/strange things others don’t see; is overly vigilant/guarded/I don’t trust anyone; I feel like I am being followed/watched; claims to hear voices that are not there/I hear voices that other people don’t hear; I look at things in a weird way; has problems sleeping; and I have special powers that other kids don’t have. *********** has received intensive interventions earlier this year regarding concerns for suicidal ideations and auditory hallucinations. Social Maladjustment considers the likelihood that *********** has possible combinations of aggressive acting out and rule-breaking behavior, lack of regard for others, dishonesty, and rejection of authority. An emotional disability would not include students who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they also have an emotional disability. All raters indicated no concerns in this area. All raters were asked to indicate how likely *********** was to have behaviors which would be a serious obstacle to both school and personal adjustment; the presence of an elevated score would add to the picture of potential eligibility for services and the need for intervention. ***********’s mother, his teacher, and his counselor all indicated a mild level of severity for behaviors that would be a serious obstacle to school and personal adjustment; *********** indicated a moderate level of concern for behaviors that would affect his school and personal adjustment. Educators were asked to indicate how likely *********** was to be displaying behaviors that are a serious obstacle to school progress; elevated scores would add to the picture of potential eligibility for services and the need for intervention. Both of his teachers indicated that his behaviors appear to have a mild impact on his school progress.
