Mark's Text Terminal

“social maladjustment: A vague term for a child’s chronic misconduct in the absence of emotional disturbance. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act specifically prohibits the classification of children as handicapped because of social maladjustment, although social maladjustment may occur together with legally defined handicaps.

In the past, it was a common practice for schools to place children into special education classes based on their misconduct rather than in the presence of a handicap. Many alleged that public school special education classes became ‘dumping grounds’ for the children whom no one wanted to teach, such as juvenile delinquents and those who defied authority.”

Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.