Social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD)

original post by daniel

Children with SEBD need very specific and intensive support in order to be fully included in school life. Within the umbrella term SEBD, there are 4 key areas that are looked at to identify the level of needs;

- Personal: Low self-image, resentful, withdrawn, defiant and sometimes appear to be vindictive.
- Verbal: Argues, threatens, swears, interrupts or may remain silent and unresponsive.
- Non-Verbal: Break rules, violent, destructive, disruptive and/or aggressive.
- Work-Avoidance: Will not work independently, isn't able to follow simple instructions or/and doesn't appear to concentrate.

A child with diagnosed SEBD will normally display symptoms from at least 3 of the different areas. It is also important to remember that children with SEBD will display these problems consistently and frequently, but that does not mean they are permanent.

Children with SEBD normally find it very difficult to trust and form relationships with adults and sometimes other children. It is a common misconception that children with SEBD need "firm boundaries" and that staff need to be "consistently firm". If you imagine yourself as a child with SEBD, how would you feel if everyone saw you as the "naughty child" and always came down hard on you, more than the other children? Children with SEBD need bags of positivity and praise so that their self-esteem can be repaired, this will in turn improve behaviour. It's also important that we, as school staff, remember that they are still a child and they need to be nurtured. It's just as important for them to be able to create positive relationships with adults, as it is for them to behaving well during numeracy in the morning