Understanding the Emotional and Behavioral Aspects of Learning Difficulties

A child acting out is frequently a sign of frustration over failure or perceived failure. If a child cannot learn the way he or she is taught, that child might as well be in a foreign language class. Boredom, frustration, a sense of failure, can all lead to unacceptable behaviors. – July Bonnell

“I always tell people that from the moment a kid gets up in the morning until he goes to sleep at night, the central mission of the day is to avoid humiliation at all costs.” – Dr. Mel Levine

Question/Issue	Link to resources
Learning disabilities and psychological problems	Learning disabilities and psychological problems: An overview What's the connection between learning disabilities and psychological problems? Learn what the research tells us.
How emotions affect your child’s learning and performance in school	Feelings Count: Emotions and Learning The Role of Emotions in Learning An expert explains how emotions affect your child's learning, memory, and performance in school.
Behavior Assessment and Intervention	Functional Behavioral Assessments and Positive Interventions: What Parents Need to Know Behavior Assessments and Intervention Plans An IEP Team’s Introduction To FBAs and BIPS. Comprehensive information about planning and conducting functional behavioral assessments, and developing behavior intervention plans. Conducting a Functional Behavioral Assessment Excellent basic introduction. Sample Functional Behavioral Assessment Glossary of Behavior Assessment and Support terms
Behavior Intervention Plans	Sample Behavior Intervention Plan
Resources for Behavior Intervention Strategies	Special Needs and Special Gifts Addressing difficult behaviors Overview of how to handle difficult behaviors. Explains why it’ is important to deal with these in the child’s IEP, before the child hits high school zero-tolerance policies. If you wait until a crisis happens it may be too late and the child can end up in the judicial system. Behavior Advisor website Provides thousands of tips on managing student behavior, and provides step-by-step directions for implementing a great number of standard interventions for promoting appropriate, prosocial behavior in students.