BESD

Managing Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties

Managing Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties

Case

Jules is 13 years old and attends a large comprehensive school. He has always experienced high levels of anxiety, and these difficulties appeared to get worse when he entered secondary school. He is very withdrawn, communicates with staff and other students very little, has no friends, and participates in no extracurricular activities. Attempts to communicate with Jules about his difficulties often result in him becoming very aggressive.

Difficulties Jules is experiencing

The Special educational needs Code of Practice (DfES, 2001) identify four areas of special education needs (SEN) which include behavioural, emotional and social development. The behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) are defined by the SEN Code of Practice as demonstrated by children in the form of withdrawal or isolation, or in the form of immature social skills, or presenting challenging behaviours that arise from other complex special needs. This BESD may be considered in children on the basis of various factors such as nature of the difficulty, frequency, persistence, and severity.

From the above account it can be seen that Jules is experiencing behavioural, emotional and social difficulties to a certain extent. He has anxiety disorder that he has always been experiencing which makes him act in ways that are in alignment with the signs of BESD. Some of the signs of BESD include disruptive or disturbing behaviour, impulsivity, being withdrawn, isolated and very quiet, anti-social behaviour, immature social skills, and depressed behaviour. From the above case account it can be seen that Jules is withdrawn and does not communicate much with his peers and people that he encounters such as the staff. Meanwhile, if he is approached to discuss the difficulties that he is facing, the result is often in the form of aggressive behaviour from his end making it difficult to support him to overcome his difficulties. This is suggestive of the fact that he may have social anxiety disorder. Social anxiety disorder is a kind of social phobia which is driven mainly by the fear of being negatively judged by others. This is a kind of fear that leads people to avoid public situations and contact with humans to the extent that normal life is considered as impossible (Crosta, 2009).

Ways in which Jules can be supported to overcome difficulties

Since it is now understood from the signs that Jules has signs of BESD and that he is required to be supported for overcoming the difficulties that he is experiencing so that he can return to normal. It is also though required to understand the risk factors that he had experienced in his life to lead to the experience of BESD. There may be various factors that would have led Jules to act the way he is acting which include a troubled home life, rejection or neglect of parents, loss or separation from family, experience of hostile relationships or nay kind of changes in life. There are though no specific causes of high anxiety but there exist some factors that ...