From Johannes:
Campbell, Moore. (2003). Sometimes my mommy gets angry. G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
This book tells the story of Annie, a young African American girl whose mother has bipolar disorder. The story is told from the perspective of Annie and follows her through her day. Typically during the morning Annie’s mother is sweet and caring, helping her get dressed for school, making her pancakes and sending her off with a smile and kiss. However during the time that Annie is gone at school her mom sometimes transforms into a yelling, terrifying adult. Annie copes with her mothers’ disorder by talking to her grandma who reminds her that she did nothing wrong. Annie’s grandmother also tells Annie that her mother has a hard time admitting that she has a problem. A strength of the book is that it is conscious of imparting positive images of African Americans (Annie and her teacher) and the woman.

Critique:  The only critique that I have of this book is that one of Annie’s best friends, Carman is occasionally mean to her younger sister Jasmine. However, the fact that Carman occasionally teases her younger sister Jasmine makes the story realistic and authentic to many children’s experiences with siblings.

Mikaelson, Ben. (2001). Touching spirit bear. Harper Collins.
This book tells the story of Cole Mathews, an angry fifteen year old. The story unfolds as Cole beats up and nearly kills a boy who told on him for robbing and destroying a hardware store. Cole is sent away to a remote uninhabited island off the Alaskan coast as part of a Native American healing circle program. Initially Cole is angry at everyone and blames everything that has gone wrong in his life on others, particularly his father. As the book unfolds we learn that Cole’s father regularly beat him, just as his father beat him. Essentially what happens is that Cole undergoes a major personal transformation through his tribulations in the wilderness.

Critique: Oh, the stereotypes kill me. Predictably Cole’s transformation is facilitated by a wise old Native American man who helps Cole recognize that we are all part of a greater purpose and that animals are part of this circle. Despite this huge transgression I decided to include this book because it is written extremely well and immediately caught and held my attention. Furthermore it is on the top ten list of books for young adult readers award. If you decide to include this book in your curriculum absolutely make sure to critically examine and deconstruct the stereotypes of Native Americans.

Nolan, Han. (1997). Dancing on the edge. Puffin Books.
This book is told from the perspective of Miracle McCloy, a lonely disillusioned teenager who struggles to learn more about her dead mother and "melted" father. Miracle lives with her grandmother who uses Ouija boards, tarot cards and séances to contact Miracles missing father and dead mother.  Miracle eventually moves in with her grandfather who pays for her to have dance lessons where Miracle has seemingly psychotic episodes. Miracle finally decides to "melt" in an attempt to reach and rescue her missing father. Miracles version of "melting" is in reality her lighting herself on fire. When Miracle is committed to an insane asylum her aunt Casey comes to her rescue and Miracles life is radically transformed.

Critique: The book portrays spirituality in a pretty poor light. The message is pretty clear, doctors and western medicine have the answer and any searching beyond those offered by mainstream society are damning.

From Fran:
McCain, B.R. (2001). Nobody knew what to do: A story about bullying. Morton Grove, Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company.

 In this story, Ray is being picked on by a group of students but teachers don’t notice and no other students know what to do. The narrator reveals how uncomfortable the situation makes him feel and how Ray tries to act brave even though he is scared. Finally the narrator tells his teacher because he thinks she really listens. The teacher reassures the narrator that by telling the truth he has made it possible for people to figure out what to do. After being bullied again, Ray stays home from school for a few days. When he returns the teacher and the principal apprehend the bullies on the playground. They call the parents of everyone who was mean to Ray and behaviors are changed because no one permits bullying to go unnoticed again.
This is a book is a refreshing alternative to the old school of thought that students should "just fight back" to stop bullying. The text addresses a complex situation in a clear, easy to understand manner. There are great illustrations that portray children from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The story is told from the male perspective of the narrator, but there are illustrations of both males and females. The last page of the book contains helpful information about bully prevention.
This is a picture book that is suitable for elementary school and for middle school. It is a good starting point to talk about bullying, which can be a manifestation of conduct disorder and aggression in some students. For those who do not have a conduct disorder but just don’t know what to do when bullying arises, this book provides a viable alternative to just ignoring the problem. I would highly recommend it for all teachers and students because of the writing style and lovely illustrations.
 

Murphy, C.F. (1993). Alice Dodd and the Spirit of Truth. New York: Macmillian Publishing Company.

 This is a story about the summer Alice spent at her Grandfather’s vacation cabin at the lake. She has always had trouble lying, and she starts out the summer by just accidentally lying to her Aunt Kate. This is Alice’s first summer without her family. She is supposed to be watching her three-year-old cousin while Aunt Kate paints. Alice gets herself entangled in one lie after the other, eventually endangering the life of three-year-old Amy.
 This is a young adult novel and would be appropriate for readers in middle school and high school. The story is engaging and presents a strong case about how easy how difficult it is to stop once a lie is told. It clearly demonstrates how easy and often necessary it is to continue lying once the cycle begins. The book does a good job of promoting the benefits of telling the truth. Through Alice’s eventual honesty, relationships are healed. The addition of older characters who have told lies during their lifetime and the pain it has caused them presents a strong case for honesty and integrity in a person’s life. There are no illustrations. The problem with the book is that it is centered on the white, middle-class or upper-middle class segment of the population in the United States while ignoring other ethnicities or socioeconomic backgrounds.
 Since lying is one of the manifestations of conduct disorders, this book could be used as a literature circle book that would focus all students’ attention on the consequences of lying. If a student in the classroom had this disorder they would not feel singled out by this book because it appears to be just another example of age appropriate literature, while bringing one of the manifestations of the disorder out for discussion and increasing the possibility the student will see the benefits of talking about their problem or altering their behavior.

Aaron, J. (1998). When I’m afraid. New York: Golden Books.

 The child in this book describes various incidents that are frightening. They include going to the doctor, getting shots, and going to bed at night and being afraid of noises and monsters. In this book the parents are very supportive. They talk to the child and give the child hugs. At the end of the book the mother tells the child that everyone is afraid sometimes, and the dad tells the child to come to him whenever anything frightens the child.
 This book is suitable for elementary school children, and it could be used during a unit on feelings. It could also serve to bring awareness of the symptoms of behavior disorders such as immaturity, depression and anxiety-withdrawal without treating fear in an abnormal manner. The illustrations are all cut paper with the child being yellow, the dad being green and the mother being blue so it does not directly target the typical white Anglo-Saxon middle-class family, but it could be a stumbling block for a student from a single parent family, an abusive family setting, or from a lower SES background. This could be easily overcome by balancing this book with other books about feelings that are about more diverse families. This book would be very helpful for children who become overwhelmed by fear and need simple reassurance that fear is a normal emotional reaction to some situation.

Bang, M. (1999). When Sophie gets angry—really, really angry. New York: The Blue Sky Press.

 Sophie often gets so angry that she kicks and screams and "wants to smash the world to smithereens." After Sophie gets this mad she runs and runs until she can run anymore. Then she goes up in a tree and is comforted by the view of the world around her. When she gets her anger under control she returns home where everything is "back together again."
 This book is also suitable for elementary school children. The illustrations and use of color in this book are excellent. When Sophie is angry the colors used are all the warm colors of the spectrum and the compositions are agitated. When Sophie begins to get control of her anger the color scheme is all relaxing cool colors. This is a very subtle, yet effective, manner to help students actually feel the anger and then contrast it with the calm. The book provides a forum for teachers to lead discussions about the different things people do when they are angry, and could be used to prompt children to reflect on how they handle anger. The idea of promoting that children simply run and run and then climb trees by themselves without letting adults know where they are may not be such a good idea to promote if a child is prone to carry this type of behavior to an extreme. However, the idea of finding something to calm you when you are angry, or the idea of simply having a time out until you are no longer angry are logical extensions and could be very helpful. This book could be used in a unit on feelings and is a great study in the use of color to portray emotion that just invites students to develop their own self portrait of an angry time and a calm time when everything is back to normal.
 
 
 
 

From Erin:
Moehn, H. (2001). Coping with social anxiety. Rosen Publishing Group, New York.

This book is a guide for students who have questions about social anxiety. It offers sections that inform students about the disorder such as (a) How Life is Affected by Social Anxiety, (b) How to Help Yourself Cope, and (c) What if I Need More Help?. Scenarios help the readers potentially see themselves through others and be more introspective about social anxiety.

The content is well-rounded and offers an array of useful information. It is a fairly long book (107 pages), yet the text is large and the sections are spread out with blank spaces in between for easier reading. There is only picture on the cover, which portrays a diverse group of teenagers. The book may be more engaging if it had more pictures or diagrams throughout the pages. There doesn’t appear to be any stereotypes represented in the book, only information. Since the book was published in 2001, the information is current. For example, it explains a variety of therapies that may be useful for people with social anxiety (examples are: behavioral, group, social skills training, hypnotherapy, exposure, and drug therapy).

High School students (ESL students would need assistance reading the information)

This book would serve as a great resource for teaching high school students how to handle themselves in difficult social situations. Although the book is geared toward those with social anxiety, much of the information could apply to the average teenager. It could also be used for discussion about how to strengthen the classroom community. Lastly, high school peer mediators could use it to help them implement more effective mediation practices.

The characters in this book are animals. The main character is a girl brown rabbit. She becomes easily angered when she has to stop playing a game to clean her room, when she gets in trouble at school when it wasn’t her fault, when her baseball team loses, etc. Yet, after awhile she learns how to cope. She uses different strategies like (a) distance herself from the person she’s angry with, (b) ride her bike, (c) spend some time alone (and shed tears sometimes), and (d) talk and listen with a friend. At the end of the story she happily exclaims, "When I feel angry, I know what to do!"

Although all the characters are illustrated animals, they are diverse. The main character has boy and girl friends (her best friend is a black and white cat) and all sorts of animals for classmates. The main girl character is involved in a variety of activities such as baseball, videogames, swimming, exploring nature, and bike riding. The text is easy to read and the illustrations are colorful and engaging.

Kindergarten - Second Grade

This is a wonderful read aloud for early primary grades. It could be used to spark discussion about how students cope with their anger. Also, the class could comprise a list of strategies they could use when a conflict arose in the classroom.

This book is a heartfelt story about a boy’s concern about his mother. His mother suffers from depression. At times she does not get out of bed, will not talk to him, and talks negatively about her life. The boy turns to his father for support and love. The father is patient and the family’s stable rock. The boy’s grandmother also enters the story; she comes to the house to try to talk with his mother and make her feel better. Toward the end, the family convinces the mother to visit a psychiatrist who prescribes the mother antidepressants, as well as weekly visits. Gradually, the mother begins to feel better and shows her family more affection.
 
• Critique:

The family in this story is African-American, as well as the doctor. Also, it clearly sends the message that a father can be the primary supporter in a family. The illustrations are full-page and are black and white. The black and white images portray the sadness that the family experiences. As the boy’s father educates him about depression, a student audience would also be educated. For example, the father explains that the sadness cannot just go away, and that nobody is to blame for the sadness. At various points in the story, the boy blames himself for his mother’s depression, which is probably a very common emotion for children to have.
 
• Age Level:

Third Grade - Sixth Grade
 
• Ideas for Use in Curriculum:

 

 

This book has a strong message and should be used with children who have depressed caregivers. Perhaps the book could be shared between a student and a school counselor. Caregivers could also share the book with their children to educate and strengthen their relationships.

Crary, E. (1992). Dealing with feelings: I’m mad. Seattle: Parenting Press.

This book focuses on a little girl named Katie, who becomes very mad when she is unable to go the park with her dad on a rainy day. At the end of each page there is an opportunity for the children listening to the story to give their opinions about what Katie should do next. Once it is decided what Katie should do to deal with her feelings, the reader turns to a specific page that shows the outcome of that decision. Overall, Katie and her Dad work through a variety of ways of dealing with anger, such as squishing playdough or doing an un-mad dance.

Katie and her father are Caucasian, and no other characters are present in the story. Katie’s father is presented in a non-stereotypical way, and I thought it was nice to read a story about a young girl spending the day at home with her dad.

This book could be used when teaching young children (k-2nd grade) about decision making skills, because they must make decisions in order to navigate through the book. Also, this book would be excellent for starting a discussion about positive ways for dealing with strong emotions.

Cobain, B. (1998). When nothing matters anymore: A survival guide for depressed teens. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing.

This is a non-fiction book written by Kurt Cobain’s cousin, Bev Cobain, and is her way of making sense of his death and reaching out to adolescents with depression. Ms. Cobain is a mental health professional and a registered nurse. She speaks with experience and candor in a voice that is hopeful and never condescending. The book is divided into two parts. The first part explores how it feels to be depressed, the causes and types of depression, and the links between depression and drug and alcohol use. The second part focuses on strategies for getting well and staying healthy. Ms. Cobain provides a full spectrum of healing strategies, from seeking professional help to changing one’s diet. Also, real stories of teens who have lived with and conquered depression are included throughout the book.

Nothing Matters Anymore presents personal stories from teens from a variety of cultural and socio-economic perspectives. Narratives from African-American, Hispanic, Caucasian, and Native-American students are included. In addition, one of the stories centers on a young woman who battled depression while coming out as a lesbian to her entire school. Another describes how a student with epilepsy dealt with depression. It is likely that many students who have experienced depression would see themselves reflected in some part of this book. The author provides the addresses and websites of the resources pertinent for each section; however, the book was published seven years ago, so some of this information may be out of date.

This book would be an excellent resource for any teenager who is struggling with depression. It could also be used by students who are researching depression, because it provides a large amount of factual information that is presented in an engaging and accessible way.

Agassi, M. (2000). Hands are not for hitting. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing.

Hands Are Not for Hitting is a colorful picture book designed to teach young children why hitting or behaving aggressively is hurtful to themselves and others. This book explains all sorts of wonderful things hands are good for, and then explains why hands are not for hitting. It also explores why people feel like hitting, and then explains other ways to express one’s anger.

The illustrations in this book are simple and lively, and they depict children and adults of different races and in a non-stereotypical fashion. Also, several images show students with disabilities. Boys and girls are shown playing in many different ways, and gender stereotypes are not present.

This book is geared toward younger children, probably from kindergarten through second or third grade. This book could be used by teachers who are establishing the classroom climate at the beginning of the year, as well as those who would like to initiate a conversation amongst their students about why hitting is never the solution to a problem.

From Sara:
Libal, A. (2004) Runaway train: Youth with emotional disturbance.  Broomall, Pennsylvania: Mason Crest Publishers.

This book is part fiction and part non-fiction, with a story line that is interrupted by explanatory non-fiction chapters.  In the story, Sheila is a teen whose mother has left, and Sheila is suffering from intense rages and depression.  She has only one friend, Trent, who also suffers from emotional disturbance.  Sheila and Trent are "cutters" and cut themselves regularly, and then Sheila also develops an eating disorder.  Trent gets in trouble at school, and eventually commits suicide.  Sheila goes to a hospital and is put on medication, and eventually gets better and is able to return home, although she stays on medication, sees a psychiatrist, and transfers to a new school.

Critique:
Positive:  The book makes it clear that youth with emotional disturbance are suffering inside and are not simply "acting out", and it is very sympathetic of the youth in the story.  The informational portions of the book do a good job of explaining the underlying issues behind the characters’ behaviors and the general types and issues of emotional and behavioral disorders.

Negative:  Both of the characters in this book have suffered some type of abandonment or abuse by their parents, so some readers may be left with the impression that a person can’t have a valid emotional or behavioral disorder unless they have suffered loss or abuse.  The non-fiction sections have numerous photos that struck me as stereotyping youth with emotional disturbance as goth and punk kids, and some of the passages seemed very condescending toward adolescents.

The independent reading level is approximately 9th grade.

I might suggest this book to a student who seemed to be struggling with some of these issues, but I would hesitate with many students because I would be afraid they would find the whole thing too condescending and dorky.  The book might be useful for generating class discussions about emotional and behavioral disorders.

Wagner, A.P. (2004). Up and down the worry hill: A children’s book about obsessive compulsive disorder and its treatment.  New York: Lighthouse Press.

This story is about Casey, a young boy who worries a lot, tries to do everything perfectly, and has a lot of rituals he follows everyday.  His parents and his teacher notice that he is different, and that he seems to be unhappy about the things he does, but unable to stop doing them.  So his parents take him to see a doctor, and the doctor explains that he has obsessive compulsive disorder.  The doctor explains what OCD is, how many people have it, and how it will be treated.  Casey follows the treatment plan, which is analogous to riding up the worry hill and then coasting down for a while, and then riding up another worry hill.  Eventually, he gets to control his OCD through this therapy.
Critique:
Positive:  The explanations about OCD are very clear and should be understandable for young children.  The treatment plan discussion made it clear that there were several approaches that could be tried, including both therapy and medication.

Negative:  I don’t see any negatives.

Grade:  The independent reading level is approximately fourth grade, but it could be read aloud to much younger children.

Uses:  I would give this book to a child who had been diagnosed with OCD, or use it to start a classroom discussion about OCD or about obsession in general.

Bellenir, K. (Ed). (2001).  Mental health information for teens: Health tips about mental health and mental illness.  Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics.

This is a book in the Teen Health Series, and it covers diverse topics having to do with mental health.  There are sections on anxiety, depression, suicide, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic attacks, phobias, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, abusive relationships, and more.  Information about each topic includes signs and symptoms, treatments, vocabulary definitions, and quick tips for self-help.

Critique:
Positive:  There is a lot of information packed in to this book, and teens who are themselves experiencing or have a family member experiencing one of these conditions would be able to learn a lot from reading this book.  It is not judgmental about mental illness, and does not come across as preachy or condescending.

Negative:  It is a big book, and it could easily overwhelm a teen with its sheer size.

Grade:  The independent reading level is approximately 10th grade.

Uses:  I would use this book as a resource for both myself and for any student I had who was dealing with an emotional or behavioral disorder.  There is a large breadth of information in this book, and just having it for personal use to read up on the many sub types of disorders that your students could have would be helpful.  It also could be used as a resource for a research project on mental health.

From Sean:
Frank, E.R. (2002). America. New York, New York: Atheneum.
Summary: America, a 15-year-old, part black, part white, male, is in an institution for attempted suicide. There, he slowly and painfully befriends some of the peers around him and a psychologist named Dr. B. An angry, deeply sad, and withdrawn young man, the reader learns about the abandonment and abuse that has surrounded America’s life, and how those surroundings influenced America’s murderous behavior, at one point, and attempted suicide. On the flip side, the reader also begins to see his acceptance, understanding, and readiness for positive change as he speaks more and more with Dr. B.

Critique of the Content: The content of the story is heavy stuff: drug abuse, child molestation, murder, neglect, and suicide. This could be positive and/or problematic, depending on reader and school situation. I would make sure that students understand what the book is about and prepare them for it before they read it.

The portrayals of the characters seem authentic. This authenticity also comes out in the language of the characters, which may be touchy with certain readers and their families.

Age-level: 12 and above

Ways to include in curriculum:
Unit on symbolism (The kid’s name is America for Pete’s sake)
Unit on dealing with feelings
Could be a good book for a reader’s workshop
Unit on first-person perspective and/or flashbacks
Unit on "Where kids are if they aren’t in school"

Mikaelsen, B. (2001). Touching spirit bear. New York, New York: HarperCollins.
Summary: Cole, a 15-year-old young man, nearly kills a boy in a fight. He has two options: he can go to jail or he can live on an island alone in Alaska as part of "Native American Circle Justice." He takes the latter option and is taken to the island by Tlingit Indians where he nearly drowns and is nearly killed by a bear. Given these problems and others, Cole endures and begins to realize the damage he has caused, the damage that has been caused to him, and how he can positively change.

Critique of Content: I was pleasantly surprised by this book. A little bit Hatchet, a little bit Outsiders, the novel manages to be both a survival story and a redemption story. Cole is a believable and believably angry young man. Mikaelsen’s portrayals of Tlingit Indians are restrained and seemingly realistic. It appears he did research prior to writing the novel about Circle Justice, so it seems credible.

Age-level: 10 and above

Ways to include in curriculum:
Though I have no proof, I think this novel was inspired, in part, by the real-life story out of our own Washington state a few years ago. Two Native American teenagers beat a pizza delivery man nearly to death. The two teenagers were given the option to go to prison or survive on some island in Alaska. So, if you could find some newspapers on that, you could use it as a parallel text with this one.

Additionally, this book and the news story would be good texts to use in a unit on crime, punishment, equity, rehabilitation, and forgiveness. It would be a heavy unit, but potentially a really transformative one, too, especially for students with emotional or behavioral disorders in the classroom.

 McCormick, P. (2000). Cut. New York, New York: PUSH.
Summary: Callie, a 15-year-old young woman whose brother has recently died, is in an institution for depression and cutting. Callie cuts herself to deal with her depression and guilt. Like America, Callie is initially withdrawn, but with growing relationships with people around her, she begins to recognize that her brother’s death was not her fault—it was her dysfunctional family’s fault—and that she can deal with her depression and cutting.

Critique of Content:  Well, it’s serious stuff: depression and cutting. McCormick’s portrayal of teenage girls and depression and cutting seems authentic. She did research on the subject for three years. This is another book where I would preface any student reading it that has serious themes in it and may bring up strong emotions.

In reading responses to the book on the internet, there was some concern that some readers might create a romantic notion of cutting from this book. While I don’t think that would be true with most readers, it is a concern to be aware of. When I studied Sylvia Plath for a quarter and the mythology that surrounds her, it was shocking at times to see how much teenage girls idolized her for her depression and suicide, rather than her writing.

Age-level: 13 and above

Ways to include in curriculum:
A unit on Image. I could imagine, in high school, pairing this book up with The Bell Jar, some feminist theory, examinations of magazines like Seventeen and doing something. That could be powerful.
A Unit on "Where students are when they aren’t in school."
A unit on families.
A unit on overcoming difficulties.
A unit on mental health.
 
 

www.pacer.org/ebd
Erin:  This website is operated by the Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights. The site is designed to inform parents about EBD, EBD services, how to lobby for their children’s rights, and to assist parents in how to advocate for children’s rights in social, educational, and health settings. The Parent Partnership offers counseling, advice, information, and useful outside links as resources for understanding EBD and EBD services. There are also links to IDEA information. The site is easy to navigate and topics are color-coded for easy reading. The website’s information is consistent with the textbook’s information.

www.nichcy.org/pubs/bibliog/bib10txt.htm
Erin:  This website is operated by the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. This particular page routes to an annotated list of resources to help teachers understand EBD and learn how to more effectively teach children with EBD. However, the information listed is not linked on the Internet. Those interested would have to print the list and either search the web on their own or visit a library.
 

Dr. Mac’s Amazing Behavior Management Advice Site  www.behavioradvisor.com
Jennifer:  This site contains a very long list of resources for managing student behavior. Included in this site are links to basics of behavior management, strategies for dealing with specific emotional and behavioral disorders, techniques for assessing behavioral disorders, and information on psycho educational interventions. Also, there is a section on how to implement school wide behavioral programs. Another very helpful aspect of this site is the bulletin board, where teachers post problems they are having in their classroom and brainstorm with other teachers to find solutions.

Overall, this site is packed with useful information. One of its strengths is that it provides guidance for dealing with all types of behavioral issues, and is not limited to addressing the needs of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Also, the bulletin board is an extremely helpful resource where teachers can benefit from pooling their experiences. Another bonus included in this website is the page dedicated specifically for new teachers.

The tone of the site is very positive and the philosophy behind the advice appears to be rooted in care and respect for students. I have no doubt that I will return to this site periodically for guidance throughout my student teaching.

The only weakness I found in this site is that the layout is not particularly sophisticated. Make sure you scroll all the way down to see all of the links and resources available.

Sara:  This website has descriptions of the signs and symptoms of a wide range of emotional and behavioral disorders, with practical tips for teachers and advice on what may be expected of teachers.  There is also a great deal of information about different behavior management systems, with practical step-by-step directions and checklists for teachers to use to analyze their own classroom management.  I think this site could be really useful for us, as a resource on general classroom management, and as a resource when we have a student with a particular emotional or behavioral disorder.

Sean:  This website, useful for teachers looking for advice on various classroom management issues, is particularly strong in providing suggestions on working with students with aggression, depression, and defiance.

Much of the advice echoes what we have learned in the program, but it would definitely be a good site to remind you of particular strategies. It also provides particular phrases and questions to use when attempting to help students resolve conflict. That concrete advice may be very helpful to some teachers.

The site isn’t the easiest site in the world to navigate. There are hundreds of links, but it is pretty easy to find what behavior you are looking to modify. I will include this website in my bookmarks.

Johannes:This site, created by Dr. Thomas McIntyre focuses almost exclusively on behavior management strategies and techniques. It has a ton of information and articles on the above mentioned. Dr McIntyre is clearly a firm believer in humor and peppers almost all his articles with little jokes. Aside from the often juvenile nature and quirky approach that Dr. McIntyre utilizes many of the articles and information herein are very useful. The site includes links to articles for teachers, teacher educators, principles and school staff that all focus on how to build an effective behavior management system within schools.

Critique: The homepage runs on forever, containing tightly packed information into a crazy run on page that is about ten pages long. Similarly the topics are not clearly de-lineated, instead overlapping extensively under different topic headings. The top of the homepage contains too much action with a dog running around, flames shooting and a post-board constantly flipping over. This page looks like the work of teenager, not a professional. Furthermore Dr. McIntyre does not shy away from selling his book for children with behavioral management issues.

Fran: This is a fun site to navigate and is interspersed with humor and practical advice for managing behavior. The site includes sections covering the basics of behavior management, tips for becoming an effective and well-liked manager, step-by-step directions on how to manage the classroom for many disabilities, methods for meeting the challenge of inclusion for students with emotional disabilities, how to assess and measure behavior, and two interesting sections on how to use applied behavior analysis and how to use psychoeducational interventions. There are many links for books, software, and websites. This site is primarily for teachers but could be useful for parents.

http://seriweb.com/behavior.htm
Jennifer: This page is part of the Special Education Resources on the Internet (SERI) website. The behavior page offers several links to information on dealing with behavior issues (for both teachers and parents) as well as links to information about special behavioral and emotional disorders.  The Behavior Management Index link sends website visitors to a page that offers behavior management tips in both English and Spanish.

This site is likely to a useful resource for those who need information on specific behavioral or emotional disorders, as well as those who could benefit from some of the information being presented in Spanish. However, when I viewed the site, five of the twelve links were not working. Obviously, this limits the usefulness of the website. Also, most of the working links directed me to another website, and I usually had to navigate through several pages to find the information I was looking for.

Sara:  This site is supposed to have links to many different sites with information about behavior disorders.  There are posted links to sites with information on a wide range of disorders, and information aimed at parents and teachers.  However, I found that many of the links didn’t work, and that a couple of the linked sites were mostly information for others states (Vermont and Kentucky).  This site doesn’t seem very useful because of those problems.

Internet Mental Health  http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-ch02.html

Sean: This site is almost strictly devoted to Conduct Disorders. It has an interesting link describing in more depth than our text about what Conduct Disorders are, how they are acted out, and effective ways to treat and management people with Conduct Disorders.

The cite also has links to research on Conduct Disorders (one called Recent Research, one called Important Research), but I was only able to access the Recent Research one without having to pay.

The cite also has some useful links to external website about social phobias, which could be interesting in examining another aspect of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.

Fran:  This is an excellent site. It is user friendly, easy  to navigate and contains information that is accurately summarized into concise information bites that can be easily read and understood. There are descriptions, treatments, research articles, booklets, magazine articles, and links to childhood disorders sites.
 

http://www.mentalhealth.com/
Johannes: This site is extremely extensive and contains a vast knowledge base. Furthermore there are links to current research literature, magazine and newspaper articles and chat rooms all dedicated to mental health.  Another positive for this site is that it often includes Canadian, American and European definitions of specific mental and behavioral disorders.  Perhaps what impressed me most about this site was the author, Phillip Long M.D. heartfelt explanation of the shortcomings of the current medical establishment and lack of services provided to poor, homeless mentally ill patients. Phillip Long also goes provides a clear explanation of why his website does not accept funds or gifts from corporate pharmaceuticals which invariable taint objectivity.

Critique: Why the bright blue and yellow background? The content of this site is done a major disservice by the distracting color scheme. I also had difficulty finding particular mental and behavioral disorders, often searching for quite a while before locating the proper page. Another critique of this site is that it offers a link where visitors are told that they can self-diagnose. After following the link I was blocked from diagnosing myself and instead told that I would need to buy a subscription.