The hidden cost of separating 'emotionally disturbed' students
4/26/202638 min
There’s a category of special education that stands out from the rest. It’s designed for kids who struggle with their emotions and behaviors, known at the federal level as “emotional disturbance.” More than 300,000 students in the U.S. currently have this label. Often, these students are taught in separate classrooms or even separate schools.
Today on The Sunday Story, reporter Laurie Stern shares how this disability label shaped the life of one student who she followed for nearly two years — and what his experience reveals about how the label can simultaneously support and limit students.
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First 90 secondsAyesha Rascoe· Host0:00
I'm Ayesha Rascoe, and this is The Sunday Story from Up First. Across the US, there are more than 300,000 students categorized as emotionally disturbed. [instrumental music plays] Emotional disturbance is a federally recognized special education category. It's for kids who struggle not with learning or mobility, but with their behavior and emotions. Like all kids with disabilities, students with the emotional disturbance label are guaranteed a free and appropriate public education. It's baked into a law passed more than 50 years ago, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. These kids are also legally entitled to services and specialized help, but there's a big question around whether the support they're getting is doing more harm than good. This week on The Sunday Story, a look at one student who was categorized as emotionally disturbed when he was just a young child, and what that has meant for the rest of his education.
Laurie Stern· Guest1:06
At home, I knew how to act, but at school, it was problems. I was a bad kid.
Ayesha Rascoe· Host1:10
[instrumental music plays] Stay with us.
Speaker 21:14
[instrumental music plays] Every episode of NPR's It's Been a Minute podcast starts with a question about how culture shapes our lives. Are we spending too much on other