Supporting student with emotional disturbance/behavioural disorder in Irish post-primary schools: replacing care support with teaching provision

ABSTRACT Supporting students with emotional disturbance/behavioural disorder (EBD) in mainstream schools is complex. An alternative school-based model of provision for students with EBD, titled the Altered Provision Project (APP), was piloted in the Irish mainstream post-primary schools. The rationale behind APP was that students with EBD require additional teaching in self-management of behaviour from qualified teachers, rather than the care support provided by a Special Needs Assistant (SNA). This paper reports the findings of a review of APP, focusing on the types of interventions utilised with students with EBD that were found to be implemented the Irish mainstream post-primary schools involved in the project. Findings indicate that a range of different interventions is in place. However, schools require greater guidance and support, particularly in terms of planning and implementing bio-psychosocial approaches. Furthermore, a significant gap in the findings was the lack of evidence of multi-disciplinary interventions as reported by the participants.