Behavioral Issues in Special Education (self-injurous behavior) Essay

Behavioral Issues in Special Education (self-injurous behavior) - Essay Example Many of these children that are given special education are very disturbed and prone to inflicting harm against themselves. According to Fox, C & Hawton, K, self-injury does not really mean that the person wants to commit suicide but rather, a person who cuts or inflicts intentional harm upon himself or herself is hoping to relieve some of tension or emotional pain1 or just simply to manifest his or her frustrations over something. In the case of children with disabilities, their inability to communicate to others can be very frustrating. In most cases, these children express their frustrations by inflicting self-harm and to get the attention that they need. The failure on the part of the adult present to recognize the silent please of the child with disability can make the situation even worst. The child may continue to inflict upon herself or herself until such time when he or she gets what he or she needs. Schoeder, Mulich and Rojahn classified the Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) into two namely, the social and the non-social act. The social SIB often takes place in the social setting and was directly self-injurious such as head banging, self-biting, self-scratching, gouging, pinching and hair pulling [Weiss, 129-143]. Social SIB can happen frequently and may be associated with other forms of behaviour problems. On the other hand, the Non-Social SIB happens less frequently but may tend to inflict more harm u pon the child. Non-social SIB can be manifested through stuffing orifices, mouthing, sucking, rumination, ingestion of faeces, excessive fluid intake and ingestion of air [Weiss, 129-143]. In extreme instances, the injuries inflicted by the child upon himself or herself are so serious that it requires hospitalisation for a few days. Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) in children with learning disabilities and autism is one