Case Brief 8.

2 (Emotional Disturbance) Jameca, a 17-year-old boy labeled as having an emotional disturbance, his mother, and others met in an IEP meeting to discuss Jamecas progress and long-term goals. Jameca and his mother a both adamant that Jameca be placed in a general classroom after having been enrolled in classes at a treatment facility. Both are petitioning that Jameca return to a general setting after having been in this special education setting since the third grade. Jamecas mother argues that the behavior problems that her son is exhibiting spur from her special education teachers actions and the fact that he is isolated from peers and non-disabled students his age. However, the other parties of the IEP team disagree and argue that the emotional disturbance keeps Jameca in need of a special education environment. The team agrees that if Jameca can meet the goals in the next quarter, they will implement a trial placement in a general education setting. However, within a month of this agreement, Jameca cursed the teacher and walked out of school, never returning. Least restrictive environment one of six principles in IDEA that governs that way children with disabilities are educated in the United States. Least restrictive environment means that a child with a disability should have the opportunity, to the greatest extent possible, to be in a classroom with students without disabilities. However, not in all cases is the LRE the general education setting. The LRE changes depending on the student. In this case, where an emotional disturbance is present, LRE changes signicantly. According to an LRE checklist provided by ok.gov, there are several questions to ask when discussing what environment is least restrictive for a child. Two vital questions are: 1) Is there a negative effect so disruptive that the education of the other students is signicantly impaired? and 2) Do the childs disabilities demand so much of the teachers time that the teacher be required to ignore the other students? These questions pertain to Jameca, particularly because of the nature of his behavior outbursts. In the special education setting, James Hudson, the special education teacher, notes Jamecas behavior, saying that he doesnt believe he needs to listen to anyone, doesnt follow directions, maintains low attendance, is observed violating dress code, racist comments and behavior, and disrespectful comments. These behaviors signicantly affect the LRE. Just as the questions above note, it is vital that behavior problems do not signicantly impair the education of other students. It is clear that Jamecas behavior would. The placement at the treatment facility would denitely be considered isolated, but it seems that it is the suitable choice for Jamecas LRE. The IEP also appears to be written individually for Jameca. The goals and present levels of performance are specic to Jameca, and the goals written are measurable goals that pertain directly to the issues that the special education teacher describes. Accommodations are still included in the IEP (including social work individual therapy) and addresses even the conicting view of the parent. I believe the choice of the IEP team to keep Jameca in the treatment facility was the correct one. There were specic, measurable goals for Jameca (ones that would

be absolutely necessary in a general education class) that would enable him eventually to a general education class. He was not denied the chance, but rather revealed more deeply that the issue was not merely a learning disability, but most denitely an emotional disturbance. The team could have tried a non-academic class in a general education class (infrequently) to observe whether or not the student could handle the change, but it appears the IEP team did what they needed to do to assist both Jameca (by providing quality education and counseling services) and his nondisabled peers, because his presence in the general education class could have hindered their ability to learn.