Welcome!
At any given time, about one of every five students has a significant
mental health disorder that affects the child’s life and that
of his or her family, and creates distinct challenges for you as
an educator. Just as some students have physical illnesses, disabilities,
or injuries that require adjustments in curriculum and instruction,
students with mental health conditions have symptoms that can interfere
with school attendance and with learning itself.
The schoolpsychiatry.org web site was created for educators, parents, clinicians,
and clinicians-in-training. The site contains information about recognizing
and treating a range of mental health disorders in young people and making
appropriate accommodations at school that can allow these students to succeed.
How to Use This Site
The site is intended for you whether you are just starting to be
concerned about the possible causes of a student’s difficulties,
or if you are working with students who have already received a
diagnosis from a trained clinician.
Information is provided in four main sections:
- Child/Adolescent
Mental Health Information
If
you’ve been told, or you suspect, that a student has
a mental health condition, click on Child/Adolescent Mental
Health Information to read about common mental health disorders
that affect children and adolescents. This section describes
the disorders, their treatment, and useful interventions for
school and home.
- Checklists
for Preliminary Mental Health Screening
If you suspect that a student has a mental health condition,
and you are not sure which symptoms are most troublesome,
or what your student’s diagnosis
might be, click on Checklists for Preliminary Mental Health Screening to
find checklists helpful for preliminary mental health screening. These
checklists can help clarify which categories of symptoms might be most problematic
for the student.
These checklists are not meant for you to
diagnose disorders based on a particular “score.” They
are only an initial indicator of how to categorize the types
of symptoms you’ve observed. Diagnosis should be made
only by a trained clinician after a thorough evaluation.
- Screening
Tools & Rating Scales
If you have been told, or you suspect, that a student may have a particular
mental health condition, click on Screening Tools & Rating Scales to find screening tools and rating scales. These tools can help you,
the parents, and treatment professionals, to better understand and define
the student’s difficulties, and to measure progress after interventions
are put in place.
Do not assume that a particular “score” on any
of these screening tools or rating scales means a student has
a particular disorder—these screening tools and rating
scales are just one component of an evaluation. Diagnosis should
be made only by a trained clinician after a thorough evaluation.
- Mental
Health in the Classroom
If a student has been diagnosed with a mental health disorder, click
on Mental Health in the Classroom for information about addressing and
accommodating these disorders at school.
Select Educational Evaluation for
general information about assessing individual needs and tailoring
a plan to accommodate the student.
Select School-Based Interventions for
information about specific accommodations and modifications that can
be effective for each disorder.
Select the Medications section
of the web site to find up-to-date information about medications that
are used to treat children and adolescents with mental health disorders. top
Maintaining
Perspective During a Complex Process
You will find this web site most helpful if you keep the following
points in mind:
- Mental health symptoms, like asthma or diabetes, are very
different in each individual, so even a "diagnosis" does
not define your student. Each child is affected differently
by mental health issues, and each child needs an individualized
treatment and accommodation strategy.
- Information about mental health conditions and treatments
constantly changes, so use what you find here as a starting
point to partner with your student's family and clinician(s).
- If you suspect your student has mental health symptoms that
interfere with school performance, contact the staff member(s)
most familiar with mental health issues at your school. Never
administer any of the screening tools or rating scales in this
web site without consulting appropriate school staff (both
mental health staff and administrative staff).
- The School-Based
Interventions in this web site are intended to
provide options to consider in your school. It would not
be feasible or appropriate to institute every accommodation
for a student with particular symptoms. Instead, consider
which symptoms most interfere with school success for a
particular student, and consider which accommodations might
work best for him or her.
- Appreciate that the more accommodations you put in place,
the more difficult it will be to keep up with each one. top
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