Alternative Education and Mental Health:
Meeting the Needs of Unique Learners
Chad Herrmann
SD Human Services Center
Alternative School Teacher
SD Human Services Center
Alternative School

SD Human Services center
been around since 1879

School serves students with
a variety of mental health
issues from all over the
state and from every
school district

School services students
grades 7-12 with seven
certified teachers and
curriculum aligned to state
standards

School runs year round and
serves students with a
variety of lengths of stay

Staff correlates with home
schools to offer core
classes to keep students on
track as much as possible

Served 255 students last
year, each with an
individualized curriculum
What comes to
mind when you
think of mental
illness and young
people?
Most Prevalent Mental Health
Issues in Young People

Depression

Anxiety

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

Schizophrenia
Common Mental Illness
Misconceptions about Youth

It’s not a significant problem, especially in SD.
Media blows it out of proportion.

Mental illness is a bigger issue for adults

Youth with mental illness are violent and
unpredictable

Youth with mental illness are damaged for life
Common Adolescent
Mental Illness Misconceptions

Youth with mental illness are the results of bad
parenting

Youth with mental health issues now days are
overmedicated

Youth with mental illness can control their
behavior, they just often choose not to

Youth with mental illness will always struggle in
school
Challenges in Educating
Students with Mental Illness
 Stigma
 Difficult
 Rush,
& Bullying
to define and diagnose
at times, to diagnose
 Community
Support
Challenges in Educating
Students with Mental Illness
 Social
Media and the Internet
 On-line
 Self
coursework
Conscious
 Lack
of educational confidence
Challenges in Educating
Students with Mental Illness
 Rough
past
 Jumbled
 Lack
thinking
of coping skills
 Unusual
behavior
What issues are
you seeing in your
classrooms that
may be related to
mental illness?
Ideas for working with students
with mental health issues
 Show
 Use
 It’s
you care about them
empathy
often about how you do something,
not always about what you actually do
Ideas for working with students
with mental health issues
 Give
the students ownership in their own
education
 Don’t
 Don’t
define a person by their illness
let a student use their mental illness
as an excuse
Ideas for working with students
with mental health issues
 Don’t
illness
single out students with mental
 Watch
out for precipitating factors
 Behaviors
from mental illness are not
automatic; they are often elicited
Ideas for working with students
with mental health issues
 Try
to group students with mental illness
issues with other students
 Whenever
possible, try to get one on one
time with the student
 Culture
can play a significant part in
dealing with students with mental illness
Ideas for working with students
with mental health issues
 If
possible, get involved with the parent,
family and/or therapist from the
beginning
 Understand
you can do
 Always
there are limitations to what
be prepared for having to go out
of your “comfort zone”
Please feel
free to
contact me
anytime
[email protected]