Diagnosis
Diagnosis for an anxiety disorder can only be made by a medical professional. The medical professional will make an assessment of a child based on reports from the child, parents or guardians, and teacher. A child who is diagnosed with an anxiety disorder falls under the BC Ministry of Education categorization of Behaviour/Mental Illness. Cases can range from mild to complex, depending on how the disorder interferes with the child's daily functioning at school and in class.
General Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders
There are a range of physiological and psychological symptoms that may be present, and will vary depending on the student and their specific anxiety disorder. Students may display the some of the following symptoms over time.
Physiological symptoms:
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Psychological Symptoms:
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From Observation to Designation
“To be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV-TR) of the American Psychiatric Association(APA),10 a child must exhibit disorder-specific anxiety symptoms and these symptoms must cause significant impairment in functioning. There are no definitive biological or psychological tests for anxiety disorders. Consequently, diagnoses must be made clinically based on reports from multiple informants (children, parents, teachers and others), ideally involving multidisciplinary team assessment…For any anxiety disorder diagnosis in childhood, a child must be under 18 years of age and must display symptoms that significantly impair functioning at home, at school, with peers or in the community.”
-BC Ministry of Children & Family Development
Steps from Observation to Designation
- Teacher initiates in-depth, systematic classroom observations, assesses learning needs, and introduces appropriate variations in instructional approaches, evaluating the success of using such teaching techniques and instructional materials with the student
- teacher should consult with parents about appropriateness of a referral to a physician to rule out medical causes
- if this isn’t enough to help the child, the teacher collaborates with school-based resource personnel
- if the resulting collaborative planning and implementation of interventions isn’t enough, then there can be a referral to the school-based team
- if extended assessment is needed, one of the district’s responsibilities is to make sure required documentation is received from parents, etc. for formal diagnosis
- from there, an IEP is developed and implemented