11. Case Studies
Case Study 1
Emotional Disability According to IDEA
(i) Emotional disability means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:
(A) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
(B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
(C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
(D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
(E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
Background Information
Joey is a 10-year-old 5th grader who initially qualified for special education services under the disability category emotional disability (ED). Although Joey needed academic supports, his team felt ED had more of an impact on his achievement than a specific learning disability. This decision was based on his inability to build or maintain relationships with peers and adults, and inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances (yelling, self-harm, shutting down for long periods of time when frustrated). Since the middle of his 1st grade year, he has been receiving all of his academics in a small group setting in the special education classroom. Academically, he is below grade level in both reading and writing. Like many children, Joey often becomes frustrated when things don’t go his way or when he becomes overwhelmed with requests. He also resists written assignments. Overall, Joey displays more emotionality than other boys his age. He sometimes completely ignores any directions given to him by adults. At times, he gets out of his seat and begins pacing around the room and grumbling. On a few occasions, Joey has left the room without permission and has walked into the hallway where he sits against the hallway walls until he is able to compose himself again. At no time in Joey’s history has he ever been physically aggressive towards staff, although once while at the bus stop in 2nd grade, he threatened to punch a peer after being called “fat.”
Over the past six months, Joey has been doing significantly better. Joey is on grade level for math and has been successful with managing his emotions and the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team believed Joey would be able to achieve success in a general education math class. In November, Joey began attending math in the general education setting. Since then, he has been in the general education setting without support, and he has been doing very well on in class assignments and tests. His IEP goals and accommodations have been monitored every four weeks and progress reports have been sent home to Joey’s parents to monitor his success with this change in placement.
Although Joey usually completes work in class, he does not volunteer to share ideas and rarely completes homework. His general education teacher reports that there are several other students in the class who exhibit the same pattern of behavior. His behavior in class has not been problematic and there have not been any incidents where Joey has become frustrated. Joey has a functional behavior assessment (FBA) and behavior intervention plan (BIP) that includes allowing Joey time to “cool down” if he does become frustrated. Part of his FBA/ BIP includes waiting for Joey to tell staff he is “ready” to problem solve. It has been noted in the past that when staff rush Joey to problem solve or move on from a problem too quickly he escalates even more. When he was younger, he would hurt himself by pinching his own arms and legs, slapping his face, and scratching himself if he began escalating, but this behavior has not happened since the middle of 3rd grade.
Joey’s parents are not actively involved in his education and rarely attend IEP meetings in person. Joey reports to his IEP case manager that his mother is “always sad” and that his father has “issues.” A year ago, the police were called to Joey’s home to break up a fight between his father and Joey’s oldest brother. Joey reports that generally, his house is chaotic. He has told several teachers that he hates his home because of all the fighting.
Outside of school it is suspected that Joey may be being recruited for a gang. It has been well documented that at least two of his older brothers are involved in gang activity. Joey’s involvement has not been confirmed by anyone in the school or by Joey’s family. However, Joey himself has reported that he has begun socializing with self-identified gang members in his neighborhood after school.
Incident Report
On January 24th, Joey was in his general education math class, his last class before lunch. Ms. Gorga, Joey’s general education math teacher, reported that Joey was particularly quiet throughout the class period but there were no other problems. During the last ten minutes of class, Ms. Gorga began collecting homework from the night before. As Ms. Gorga approached Joey’s desk, he put his head down on his arms. When asked about his homework, Joey remained silent and refused to look up. After being asked three times about his homework, Ms. Gorga let Joey know that she would move on and come back to him after she had checked the rest of the students’ work. A minute before the end of the period bell rang, Ms. Gorga returned to Joey’s desk and again asked him about his homework. He had not moved since she left him and he refused to respond.
As math time came to an end, Joey slid his arms down and without lifting his head, began reaching under his desk, collecting his materials. Ms. Gorga said in a neutral tone, “Joey, I need to know if you have the homework and if you don’t, why not? You’ve missed almost all your homework assignments since you started this class.” With his head down, Joey replied, “It’s lunch time and I’m not going to miss lunch.” Ms. Gorga quickly replied, “I understand it’s lunch time, and I promise you will get there and be able to eat. First, I need you to talk to me about this homework issue. Do you have the homework or not?” Joey continued to sit in silence and Ms. Gorga waited quietly. Suddenly Joey jumped out of his seat, slammed his fists on the desk and yelled at Ms. Gorga, “I’m not missing lunch! Stop asking me about the stupid homework!” Ms. Gorga stepped away from Joey’s desk as Joey stood up and headed for the classroom door. When it became apparent that Joey was going to leave the class, Ms. Gorga said, ”Joey, let’s talk about this. We can work this out!” Joey turned around, growled at Ms. Gorga and slammed the door, leaving the classroom. Ms. Gorga called Mrs. Guidice, Joey’s special education teacher to let her know what was happening.
As Joey approached his special education classroom doors, he found them locked. Just as Joey found himself locked out of the classroom and unable to retrieve his packed lunch, Mrs. Guidice, Joey’s special education teacher arrived. As soon as Joey saw Mrs. Guidice, he began shaking the locked door by the handle while kicking the bottom of the door. Joey began yelling obscenities and demanded to be let in. “Joey, let’s talk and figure out what’s going on here,” Mrs. Guidice said. Joey stopped pulling on the door, but wouldn’t let go of the handle and refused to talk. Again, Mrs. Guidice calmly said, “Let me know when you are ready.” Joey made eye contact with Mrs. Guidice, but still refused to talk.
During the next fifteen minutes, Joey and Mrs. Guidice stood in the hallway in silence. Once Mrs. Guidice observed what she believed to be a calmness come over Joey, as evident by a relaxed face and body and unclenched fists, she asked Joey if he was ready. Joey replied, “Fine, I’ll talk to you.” Just as Joey answered, Mrs. Frankie, the principal, walked down the hallway towards Joey and Mrs. Guidice.
Aware of Joey’s BIP, Mrs. Frankie ignored Joey and walked past him to a 6th grader who was in the hallway. The 6th grader was exiting the restroom and was walking back towards his classroom, watching the exchange between Joey and Mrs. Guidice. The 6th grader also lives in Joey’s neighborhood and is also associated with older boys who are suspected of gang activity. Mrs. Guidice quietly said, “So… let’s talk, what’s going on?” Joey looked back at the 6th grader, made very brief eye contact with Mrs. Guidice, and with both hands, pushed Mrs. Guidice squarely on the shoulders, causing her to stumble backwards and fall onto the floor.
Joey is now up for long-term suspension for assaulting a staff member. When debriefed about the situation, Joey refused to talk about what happened other than to say, “She made me mad.” Joey’s parents have not offered any insight into the situation and will not be attending his manifestation determination meeting.
Case Study 2
Emotional Disability According to IDEA
(i) Emotional disability means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:
(A) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
(B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
(C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
(D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
(E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
Background Information
Jackie is an 11-year-old 5th grader who initially qualified for special education services under the disability category emotional disability (ED). Although Jackie needed academic support, her team felt ED had more of an impact on her achievement than a specific learning disability. This decision was based on her inability to build or maintain relationships with peers and adults, and inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances (yelling, self-harm, shutting down for long periods of time when frustrated). Since the middle of her 1st grade year, she has been receiving all of her academics in a small group setting in the special education classroom. Academically, she is below grade level in reading. Jackie often becomes visibly angry when things don’t go her way or when she becomes overwhelmed with requests. She also resists written assignments because she says it hurts her hand. Overall, however, Jackie displays the same amount of emotionality as other girls her age. She does sometimes completely ignore any directions given to her by adults, especially adults she does not know. At times, she gets out of her seat and begins pacing around the room. On a few occasions, Jackie has left the room without permission and has walked into the hallway where she sits against the hallway walls, singing songs, until she is able to compose himself again. At no time in Jackie’s history has she ever been physically aggressive towards staff, although once while at the bus stop in 2nd grade, she pulled another child’s hair after being called “stupid.”
Over the past six months, Jackie has been doing significantly better. Joey is on grade level for math and has been successful with managing her emotions and the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team believed Jackie would be able to achieve success in a general education math class. In November, Jackie began attending math in the general education setting. Since then, she has been in the general education setting without support, and she has been doing well. The team is planning to reconvene about her success with this change in placement at the end of the school year.
Although Jackie usually completes work in class, she does not volunteer to share ideas and rarely completes homework. Her general education teacher reports that there are several other students in the class who exhibit the same pattern of behavior. Her behavior in class has not been problematic and there have not been any incidents where Jackie has become frustrated. Jackie has a functional behavior assessment (FBA) and behavior intervention plan (BIP) that includes allowing Jackie time to “cool down” if she does become frustrated. Part of her FBA/ BIP includes waiting for Jackie to tell staff she is “ready” to problem solve. It has been noted in the past that when staff rush Jackie to problem solve or move on from a problem too quickly she escalates even more. When she was younger, she would hurt herself by pinching her own arms and legs, slapping her face, and scratching herself if she began escalating, but this behavior has not happened since the middle of 3rd grade.
Jackie’s parents are not actively involved in her education and rarely attend IEP meetings in person. Jackie reports to her IEP case manager that her father is “always sad” and that her mother has “issues.” A year ago, the police were called to Jackie’s home to break up a fight between her father and mother. Jackie reports that usually her house is chaotic. She has told several teachers that she hates her home because of all the fighting.
Outside of school it is suspected that Jackie is socializing with her older brother’s friends. It has been well documented that at least two of her older brothers are involved in gang activity. Jackie’s involvement with any gang related activity has not been confirmed by anyone in the school or by Jackie’s family.
Incident Report
On November 5th, Jackie was in her general education math class, her last class before lunch. Mr. Adyin, Jackie’s general education math teacher, reported that Jackie was particularly quiet throughout the class period but there were no other problems. During the last ten minutes of class, Mr. Aydin began collecting homework from the night before. As Mr. Aydin approached Jackie’s desk, she put her head down on her arms. When asked about her homework, Jackie remained silent and refused to look up. After being asked three times about her homework, Mr. Aydin let Jackie know that he would move on and come back to her after he had checked the rest of the students’ work. A minute before the end of the period bell rang, Mr. Aydin returned to Jackie’s desk and again asked her about her homework. She had not moved since he left her and she refused to respond.
As math time came to an end, Jackie slid her arms down and without lifting her head, began reaching under her desk, collecting her materials. Mr. Aydin said in a neutral tone, “Jackie, I need to know if you have the homework and if you don’t, why not? You’ve missed almost all your homework assignments since you started this class.” With her head down, Jackie replied, “It’s lunch time and I’m not going to miss lunch.” Mr. Aydin quickly replied, “I understand it’s lunch time, and I promise you will get there and be able to eat. First, I need you to talk to me about this homework issue. Do you have the homework or not?” Jackie continued to sit in silence and Mr. Aydin watched her silently. Suddenly Jackie jumped out of her seat, slammed her fists on the desk and yelled at Mr. Aydin, “I’m not missing lunch! Stop asking me about the stupid homework!” Mr. Aydin stepped away from Jackie’s desk as Jackie stood up and headed for the classroom door. When it became apparent that Jackie was going to leave the class, Mr. Aydin said, ”Jackie, you need to talk to me. You can’t just walk out!” Jackie turned around, made a gesture towards Mr. Aydin with one of her fingers and slammed the door, leaving the classroom. Mr. Aydin called Mr. Fuda, Jackie’s special education teacher to let him know what was happening.
As Jackie approached her special education classroom doors, she found them locked. Just as Jackie found herself locked out of the classroom and unable to retrieve her packed lunch, Mr. Fuda, Jackie’s special education teacher arrived. As soon as Jackie saw Mr. Fuda, she began shaking the locked door by the handle while kicking the bottom of the door. Jackie began yelling obscenities and demanded to be let in. “Jackie, knock it off,” Mr. Fuda said. Jackie stopped pulling on the door, but wouldn’t let go of the handle and refused to talk. Again, Mr. Fuda said, “Let me know when you are ready. You really are making some poor choices. You’re going to miss lunch if you keep behaving like this. I am waiting.” Jackie made eye contact with Mr. Fuda, but still refused to talk.
During the next fifteen minutes, Jackie and Mr. Fuda stood in the hallway and Mr. Fuda reported that he would “check in” with Jackie every couple of minutes. Once Mr. Fuda realized that Jackie was about to miss the entire lunch period, he asked Jackie again if she was ready because lunch was almost over. Jackie replied, “Fine. Okay then.” Just as Jackie answered, Mrs. Albie, the principal, walked down the hallway towards Jackie and Mr. Fuda.
Aware of Jackie’s BIP, Mrs. Frankie ignored Jackie and walked past her to a 6th grade girl who was in the hallway. The 6th grader was exiting the restroom and was walking back towards her classroom, watching the exchange between Jackie and Mr. Fuda. The 6th grader also lives in Jackie’s neighborhood and is also associated with older boys who are suspected of gang activity. Just as Mr. Fuda said, “So… let’s get on with it, what’s going on?” Jackie looked back at the 6th grader, made very brief eye contact with Mr. Fuda, and with both hands, pushed Mr. Fuda in the stomach area, causing him to double over and groan.
Jackie is now up for long-term suspension for assaulting a staff member. When debriefed about the situation, Jackie refused to talk about what happened other than to say, “Mr. Fuda made me mad.” Jackie’s parents have not offered any insight into the situation and will not be attending her manifestation determination meeting.
Case Study 3
Specific Learning Disability According to IDEA
(i) Specific learning disability:
- (A) Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.
- (B) Disorders not included. Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual disability, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
Background Information
Siggy is a 15-year-old 10th grader who initially qualified for special education services under the disability category specific learning disability. She initially qualified for services at the end of 2nd grade based on auditory and visual processing delays, which were significantly impacting her reading comprehension and math calculations. At the time of her initial evaluation, the school psychologist also wanted to explore the autism label, based on Siggy’s inflexibility and often rigid and repetitive behaviors. At the time, and in other discussions throughout the years, it was determined that these behaviors were a result of her poor working memory and desire for predictability rather than the characteristics of autism.
Academically, Siggy has developed a range of coping skills to support her learning needs. She doesn’t hesitate to advocate for herself and will ask teachers for her accommodations when she feels she is not receiving them. She often requires clarification of assignments, repeated directions, extended time, and read-aloud for tests. While she maintains good grades, she often fails exams because of her ability to process and memorize large amounts of information. She excels in classes with hands-on components that require direct application of information. Siggy does need support in all classes and often needs small group settings for remediation and reteaching. Now that Siggy’s IEP includes transition goals, she reports that she is interested in a career in criminology, and is hopeful she can attend college.
Although Siggy has had organizational and advocacy related goals on her IEP, she has never had any goals related to behavior, and has never needed a functional behavior assessment (FBA) or behavior intervention plan (BIP). Siggy has never had any behavioral referrals and her teachers have commented on report cards and IEP progress reports that she is hard-working and cooperative. In addition, teachers have commented that Siggy appears to have friendships and is well liked by her peers.
Socially, Siggy has friends, but she struggles to understand subtle nuances. For example, she often does not pick up on sarcasm and is easily confused when friends communicate via text or email because she can not easily decipher context or meaning. Recently, she joined some social media sites and this created a few problems at school with other girls in her grade level. A text Siggy believed to be confidential was shared broadly among peers and created a flurry of negative responses, both in person and through social media and texts about Siggy. In this situation, Siggy sent a text to a friend, sharing negative rumors she had heard about another girl in her grade. Siggy did not know if this information was true, but presented it as factual knowledge to her friend. Afterwards, Siggy was upset that the information was shared and because she believed she was not to blame or at fault because she was just repeating what she had heard from others. Administration was made aware of this incident after a teacher overheard some of the comments being made towards Siggy, which the teacher found to be borderline threatening. Ultimately, nothing more came out after the situation died down.
Siggy’s parents have always been actively involved in her education and always attend IEP meetings. Siggy’s parents report that Siggy works hard at home and has recently shown interest in obtaining a job at a local gift shop. Siggy has two younger siblings and she reports that everyone gets along well at home.
Outside of school, Siggy is involved in Girl Scouts and enjoys playing soccer in a local recreational league. She reports that she enjoys going bowling and going out to eat with friends from high school in her free time. While Siggy reports she has “many” friends, her parents report that she has a handful of trustworthy, kind friends. Her parents believe that some of the people Siggy identifies as “friends” are not always kind to her and unbeknownst to Siggy, they make fun of her or make her the center of their jokes.
Incident Report
On the morning of March 30th, a student from Siggy’s bus reported that they saw a bag of what appeared to be marijuana in Siggy’s backpack. Upon getting off the school bus, a student sitting diagonally from Siggy went into the main office and asked to speak with an administrator. During this conversation, the student recorded the following statement, “I was sitting across from Siggy, not straight across, but I could see her. She was digging in her backpack trying to see if she had her science notebook and I saw her take another bag out of her backpack and it looked like drugs. It was a plastic bag, like the kind you put sandwiches in, but it was really full. The stuff inside looked like weed. When I asked Siggy what it was, she grabbed it and shoved it back in her backpack and said ‘nothing.’ I told her I thought it was weed and she said it wasn’t.”
After this report, the Assistant Principal, Mrs. Josephs made contact with the school resource officer to discuss the issue. Together, they reached out to the bus driver, Mr. Manzo, to see if he had any additional information. Mr. Manzo reported that he didn’t notice anything different at Siggy’s bus stop, with her behavior that morning, or with her interactions with others. Essentially, Mr. Manzo didn’t have any information that would help with understanding this situation. Mrs. Josephs also called several students from Siggy’s bus stop to the office to ask if they noticed anything out of the ordinary at the bus stop. None of the students reported anything unusual or different about that particular morning or the previous days.
After attempting to collect more information, Mrs. Josephs and the school resource officer, Officer Catania, agreed that the next best course of action was to go to Siggy’s current classroom and escort her to the office, with her backpack. While Officer Catania was waiting in the office, Mrs. Josephs went to Siggy’s third period class and asked that she bring her backpack with her to the office. Upon entering Mrs. Joseph’s office, Siggy immediately began to cry and asked, “Am I in trouble?” When Siggy was asked to open her backpack, both Officer Catania and Mrs. Josephs immediately spotted the bag of suspected marijuana. After a brief inspection, the contents were verified.
When asked about the marijuana, Siggy shared the following, “My friend Joe, from my neighborhood, asked me to bring this to a girl named Danielle in 12th grade. He said that since it wasn’t mine, it would be fine to bring it to Danielle. I am supposed to catch up with her later today at lunchtime in the cafeteria courtyard.” During the course of the discussion, Siggy was visibly upset and at times, she was sobbing. When asked if she knew that it was against school rules to have drugs at school, she said yes, she knew that, but it didn’t belong to her.
Mrs. Josephs contacted Siggy’s parents to let them know that because of school policy, Siggy would be expelled from school, effective immediately. Siggy’s parents reported that likely Siggy did not fully understand the extent of her actions. Siggy has now been expelled and the team is scheduled to meet for a MDR.