Dealing with Psychiatric Disabilities in Schools: A Description of Symptoms and Coping Strategies for Dealing with Them

ABSTRACT

Despite the large number of children that the Surgeon General of the United States estimated to be suffering from a mental disorder (Office of the Surgeon General, 2000), the majority of childhood disorders are undiagnosed and untreated. The negative effect of childhood disorders on a child's academic, social, and psychological development can be devastating. The child's teacher is often the 1st person to identify that there is a problem and the 1st person to suggest referrals. The teacher is also often able to make adjustments in the classroom that can enable the child to be successful academically, minimize the negative effects of the illness on the child's development, and manage the child's behaviors that can disrupt the classroom. The author describes the most common disorders that teachers have observed in the classroom, including major depressive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and conduct disorder. The author presents the effects of childhood disorders on a child's classroom performance and offers suggestions for coping with those effects. With these suggestions, teachers can contribute to better outcomes for children with childhood disorders.

KEYWORDS:

• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
• conduct disorder
• major depressive disorder
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• psychiatric disorder