ABSTRACT
For the students who became labeled as severely emotionally disturbed at other schools and were later sent to Evers, their previous school experiences were somewhat different. Their teachers also expected students to conform to the rules of appropriate behavior. By labeling disruptive students as severely emotionally disturbed, Dr. Flagg has allowed the Lakeside school system to circumscribe its responsibility for these students’ education. No one interviewed for this study, other than Dr. Flagg and the pupil services director, believed the severely emotionally disturbed label to be an accurate diagnosis. Gajar, Hallahan and Kauffman, and Quay and Galvin point out that although most children identified as emotionally disturbed display deficits in academic achievement, many special education programs for these children do not attend to their academic needs. Since the designation of emotional disturbance is often used as a way to provide programs for aggressive children, severely withdrawn and fearful children may be neglected.
