By Anthony L. Hubbard
Despite the advances in designing instructions for students with
learning disabilities, a lot of educators across the country still face
significant challenges in addressing the needs of students who suffer from
behavioral and emotional disorders. To add to this existing conundrum, there
are a lot of students exhibiting bipolar characteristics who remain
undiagnosed. Despite the existing federal mandates to better integrate disabled
students with their peers, the plight of educators has not been addressed
sufficiently. Let us take a closer look at the classroom characteristics of
bipolar disorder.
· Impact on
cognitive and academic functioning –
Adolescents and children with bipolar disorder struggle in the classroom with
regards to their cognitive functioning and academic achievement. There have
been a lot of studies exploring neurocognitive impairments in students with
bipolar disorder. It has been found that these students score more on their
verbal measures than on their spatial-visual measures, suggesting that they
have difficulties with math and decoding of nonverbal social cues. Studies have
also shown that students with bipolar disorder are impaired in verbal memory,
executive functions, self-monitoring, systematic problem-solving, planning,
set-shifting/inhibition, and spatio-visual tasks.
·
Impact on social functioning – Studies have shown that students with bipolar
disorder tend to have few friends. Children suffering from this condition have
also reported a lot of difficulties with their peers, and parental reports have
more or less confirmed these difficulties. In one of the studies, teachers
reported that children in the age group of 8 to 11 had moderate to severe
difficulties with interpersonal skills, antisocial behavior, and
self-management. They were also reported to exhibit higher levels of aggression
that their peers.
Classroom accommodations
Students who have bipolar disorder can benefit a lot from environments
that reduce distractions and help them in organizing and attending to tasks.
Here are a few helpful tips.
· Frequent
fluctuations in energy and mood –
Make sure that the instruction and scheduling you provide allow for
flexibility. Minimize the surprises and distractions, and maintain a stable
environment with consistent expectations. It will provide the students with
predictability and structure, and reduce the level of undesirable reactivity to
the instructional demands.
· Decreased
stamina and low tolerance – Pay
attention to the characteristics of agitation, fatigue, tolerance, and
frustration levels that can magnify the bipolar symptoms. Modify the
instructional pace, opportunities to practice, activity level, work demands,
and the students’ degree of interaction with their peers.
· Non-compliance
and irritability due to rapid mood cycling – Provide your students with additional time to assimilate and
practice academic skills. Use strategies like “big ideas” and categorization,
graphic organizers, concept mapping, and guided notes.
· Irritability
and anxiety – Make a picture schedule
of the sequence of activities that the student has to go through during the
day. It will help you to preplan better. If there are going to be any changes
in the daily activities or the classroom environment, make sure that you give
your student advanced notice. Develop a “down time” plan for the unstructured
periods in a day.
·
Regulating emotion and performance – Teach your students to develop long and short term
goals. Use visual organizers and daily planners, assignment completion
checklists, to-do lists and provide more feedback. If there is a manic episode,
assist students in taking up more realistic projects and extracurricular
activities. Work with their parents to develop a more structured and consistent
routine across their school and home environments.
Social and behavioral management
accommodations
While medication has known to assist students in controlling their
behavior, they are reactive to fluctuations in their impulses, moods, and the
surrounding environmental stimuli. Here are a few strategies to help them
manage their behavior.
·
Staff knowledge and response
o
Maintain calm,
positive, patient, firm, encouraging, and consistent interactions with the
students
o
Educate the
school personnel about the disorder
o
Facilitate
long-term changes to their lifestyle through positive, proactive, and
functional interventions and strategies
o
Ensure that there
is a “safe” adult that the student may seek out when he/she is feeling
overwhelmed
·
Behavioral/social, vocational, and academic deficits
o
Design
interventions to address the skill deficits that result from the disorder
o
Foster an
inclusive environment in the classroom through open discussion, peer mediation,
and support. Protect the students from rejection or ridicule and set the
occasion for collaborative, positive working relationships.
o
Include the
students in more social skills groups, and increase their lunch and playground
time supervision, so that you can avert any problems during those times
o
Identify the
possible triggers that precede loss of control
o
Allow the
students to take walks or breaks when they become frustrated by the academic or
social demands
o
Have a game plan
for managing crises, explicit instructions for managing unsafe behavior, backup
plans if the safe place does not work, and recovery procedures for the people
involved in the crisis.
Most of the children who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder are
prescribed medication to address their symptoms and improve their functioning.
They undoubtedly result in a number of side effects. Antidepressants and mood
stabilizers can impact their attention and focus, cognitive functioning,
alertness, learning, cognitive functioning, stamina, and memory. It also causes
a lot of physical side effects like increased thirst and frequent urination,
not to mention rebound effects like weepiness, irritability, and hyperactivity.
Instructors need to understand all possible side-effects and work with parents
and medical professionals to determine whether their in-school medication
schedule must be adjusted.
Sources:
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