Emotional/Behavioral Disturbance and Speech/Language Disorders: Prevalence of the Dual Diagnoses in a School-Age Population

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of the comorbidity of emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) and speech/language disorders among those students identified as under The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act criteria as emotionally disturbed and speech impaired. The literature reviewed included clinical and school settings that examined a cooccurrence of language disorders in the EBD population. Other research reported a lack of routine involvement of speech/language therapists in the assessment of the EBD population. Implications from clinical studies suggested a need for greater attention to language disorders in a multi- and interdisciplinary assessment. This study investigated the prevalence of the dual occurrence of EBD and speech/language disorders in Grades 2 through 6 in Texas schools in light of the known research. Relationships in ethnicity and socioeconomic status were examined using chi-square test of independence. Aggregate data were obtained from the database of the Texas Pupil Information Management System and from survey questionnaire responses provided by speech therapists in selected districts. The literature review focused on the impact of language in the development of appropriate personal interactions and communication skills, especially those relevant to pragmatic language factors and the implications of language competency in successful personal living and career roles and supported the importance of language as an important contributor to a person's life success and the correlation of EBD disabilities and speech/language disorders. Social skills instruction, the relationship of language, especially pragmatics, and social competencies for this population are included. The results revealed a relationship between ethnicity and speech/language disorders among the students identified with EBD. In considering the population of students identified as EBD and language disordered, a significant relationship was found between ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Recommendations include suggestions for future research, assessment procedures, classroom interventions, and data collection methods.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2000

Author dc:creator

• Silver, Kathi Olinsky

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bullock, Lyndal M.
• Adkison, Judith A.
• Kinnison, Lloyd

• Behavior disorders in children.
• Communicative disorders in children.
• speech therapy
• language disorders
• emotionally disturbed
• ethnicity
• socioeconomic status

Statement dc:rights

• Public
• Copyright
• Silver, Kathi Olinsky
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 47218204
untcat: b2301323
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2498/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc2498

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc2498