Non-classroom special education effectiveness for students with severe developmental, emotional and behavioral disorders

Few studies exist on the effectiveness of special education day treatment for student youth with emotional and behavioral disorders so severe that they cannot be educated in a day treatment setting. Case studies were performed with two youth who had failed previous special education and day treatment programs. Youth participated in a special education program in a private, non-profit, behavioral health and education agency. Unique to this program were the non-traditional, non-classroom based components of education and therapies. Comprehensive, interdisciplinary interventions resulted in progress for these two youth in areas of medical health, violent /aggressive behavior, communication and social skills, community involvement and educational skills. Additional study needs to be performed on more students along with empirical testing of specific interventions with comparison cases. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.