Who Receives Special Education? (continued)

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How different does language have to be before a student is considered language impaired? Many students in this category receive special services for such problems as lisping, stuttering, and mispronunciation of individual words (e.g., they say "wabbit" instead of "rabbit," "pasketti" instead of "spaghetti," or "bud" for "bird"). Some of these students have voice tones that are too low, too high, too nasal, too harsh, or too hoarse. There are no absolute standards for determining when an individual's speech is "too" nasal or "too" harsh or when it will adversely affect educational performance. When speech mannerisms cause difficulties for the listener, a student may be referred for speech therapy. Some teachers are more adept than others at understanding differences in the language produced by their students. Similarly, the context in which speech occurs infuences the judgments made about it. Recent government figures indicate that there are more students in this category than in any other besides learning disabilities. This is probably not surprising for a category based on differences in speech clarity or tone.

Emotionally Disturbed

Just as standards for normal intellectual performance have evolved within the educational system, standards for how students should act in school and society also have evolved. Standards for normal behavior are based more on what is judged acceptable in a specific setting than on judgments about how an individual performs on a test. Demonstrating intellectual performance that is sufficiently above or below normal is the basis for being identified as gifted or mentally retarded. Demonstrating unacceptable behavior in school is the basis for being identified with behavior disorders or emotional disturbance.

Just how different does behavior have to be before a student is considered emotionally disturbed? Based on what you have learned about the other conditions of special education, your answer may be "behavior that is significantly different from the behavior of their peers." You are right, but you will have trouble explaining behavioral differences. There are no numerical standards for normal behavior. There are no tests to measure the normality of behavior. Classroom observations by teachers carry the most weight in identifying students with emotional/behavior disorders. However, what is acceptable behavior for one classroom may not be acceptable in another, and what is acceptable behavior for one teacher is not necessarily acceptable for another.

Many students with emotional problems sit undetected in general education classrooms. Although 1 percent of students receive special education services because of emotional disturbance, mental health experts estimate that from 6 to 10 percent of the school-aged population have an emotional problem serious enough to warrant mental health care. Chief among these emotional problems are depression, post traumatic stress disorder secondary to abuse and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (Forness, 2001).