Ways Anxiety Disorders Impact Classroom Learning and Accommodations

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Anxiety is the most common mental health issue in the UnitedStates and affects as many as 1 in 8 children. In special education this ratio is much higher. For example at the Orion School which is a private Atlanta special needs school educating students with ADHD, Asperger’s or both, most students also have anxiety disorders which tend to coexist with both these conditions. Anxiety disorders may include avoidant disorders such as school avoidance, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, separation anxiety, specific phobias such as severe weather, animals, or the dark, test anxiety, selective mutism, social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, or post traumatic stress disorders.  

Research shows that untreated anxiety disorder puts a student at a higher risk to perform poorly in school and miss out on typical social experiences. In school, anxiety may impact a student in academic as well as social ways. It may be difficult to make the connection between a student’s actions and anxiety. For example:

• The perfectionist who is so hard on himself that he will not even start an assignment unless he is sure he will succeed is probably struggling with anxiety.
• The student needing constant approval or reassurance from the teacher may also have anxiety.
• The reluctant student that will not answer questions asked in class or withdraws from classmates on the playground may have social anxiety.
• The clingy student who is struggling to separate from his parents past the age of four may have separation anxiety
• The student who tantrums if he is scared yet does not tell the teacher may be struggling with a phobia.
• The student who complains of stomachaches, headaches or other physical ailments during the school day could be dealing with some sort of anxiety.
• The student who needs to have everything just right in order to start or complete an assignment may have OCD.  
• The student who refuses to answer any questions in class may have social anxiety disorder.

Anxiety does not impact a student’s academic ability....only their ability to successfully learn. There are a variety of accommodations that helps create a safe emotional place for student’s with anxiety to learn. In school the best way to help a student with anxiety is to pay attention to their feelings and make sure their needs are respected and understood. Teachers can give praise for small accomplishments, stay calm regardless of the student’s actions, be flexible, modify expectations to ensure success, and preplan for transitions.

At the Orion School there are many accommodations built into the program to help our anxious students feel emotionally safe. The following list is offers just some ways a school can help anxious students :
·         The school day begins outside to help students make the transition from home to school more smooth ·         Short breaks are given if a student needs to calm down or self regulate outside the classroom. ·         Students are encouraged to find the calming activities that best help them relax. For some this may be reading their favorite book series, for others it may be chewing gum.  ·         Our student and family relationship liaison has a counseling degree and offers  positive affirmation, support and guidance for students when they need to take a break or talk before returning to class ·         Our program is designed to have only four students in class to encourage full participation by all students. ·          Our positive behavior system rewards recovery when a student has had a difficult time.  ·          Students learn ways to interact in a variety of situations through incidental teaching at the moment they are needed. ·         Direct instruction social skill lessons are integrated into the school week through programs like Super Flex and the Alert Program·         Our language arts curriculum includes literature with social and emotional themes. ·         A positive behavior system teaches skill development through shaping behavior·         Physical exercise is an important part of each day with plenty of playground time as well as structured physical activities including sport skills, gardening, swimming, rock climbing, and tennis·         Assignments are broken down into smaller sections to give confidence to students·         Technology is used as a tool to help students with reading challenges participate and succeed at their own pace without focusing on their weaknesses
Educating complex students is a complex task. The goal is to help students learn to generalize strategies that will help them succeed in school and in life. To do this also requires patience, compassion and erring on the side of kindness which is the art, not the science of education.