Social and emotional difficulty

In a world rapidly changing, the school’s social life with all of its electronic gadgets, tablets, smart phones, social media and internet access;  could be very challenging for children with learning difficulties, especially when these difficulties are social and emotional

This could raise issues that set the scene for the student’s learning journey, and change his/her development and learning process greatly. These social and emotional difficulties include self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, resilience and communication.

Children with social and emotional difficulties are less likely to perform complex social interactions such as negotiation, and are faced with peer rejection more than children without social and emotional difficulties (LD online see article, other resources). Moreover, some children’s difficulty in reading facial expressions presents another obstacle in the way of their social communication with other people). Viewing their own behaviour, compared to other children, and choosing appropriate social acts might prove hard for some children with social difficulties. Also, they are likely to imitate others in social situation to overcome the inability to interpret the social cues, which could result in unacceptable social behaviour or being teased for copying others.

                                              Inability to read facial expression

Social difficulty and behaviour problems usually go side by side, and many cases of social difficulties are a by-product of learning difficulties or learning disabilities. That means, students who have difficulty engaging in the class could be disruptive, moody or unable to focus on activities.

Such behaviours could be the result of combined factors from the severity of the learning disability causing the social issues, to cognitive limitations and hyperactivity. It is essential for teachers to establish the reason behind any social or behavioural problems of the children in their class, in order to adapt the learning process according to the student’s needs. Teachers can observe and assess the student’s condition to inform themselves, but it is best if social and emotional difficulties are diagnosed by a psychologist.

Legislation – Australian context:

In recent years, the Department of Education worked toward reaching a more inclusive and diverse schooling system that caters for all people. They ratified existing international laws such as The United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), and adapted it to Austrian context. The policies that directly affect teachers and students in inclusive settings are Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and Disability Standers for Education 2005.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 is a general legislation for all people yuoung an old and its main points are:

·         Eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities

·         Promote community acceptance of the principle that people with disabilities have the same fundamental rights as all members of the community, and

·         Ensure as far as practicable that people with disabilities have the same rights to equality before the law as other people in the community (see link for more information). (AHRC, 2017)

Recently, the Disability Standards for Education 2005 are what most educators and schools base their work on. The Department for Education and Training official website states:

“The Disability Standards for Education 2005 (the Standards) clarify the obligations of education and training providers and seek to ensure that students with disability can access and participate in education on the same basis as other students. The Standards were formulated under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and came into effect in August 2005.”

 

This also translates into documents from the education department such as ACECQA standers and EYLF outcomes; and it makes understanding and implementing these policies easier for teachers. Such documents include the Code of School behaviour for QLD schools. It emphasises:

“School communities will use The Code as basis for providing:

1 - Positive support to promote high standards of achievement and behaviour.

2 - Clearly articulated responses and consequences for inappropriate behaviour. “ (DETE, 2017).

Links to more information:
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/legal/legislation
https://www.education.gov.au/disability-standards-education-2005