Challenging behaviour in children and young people often stems from them not having their needs met.
Children with learning disabilities, autism, or other mental health issues can struggle to verbalise and communicate their feelings, wants, and needs to the adults around them. This can lead to them communicating non-intentionally through challenging behaviours.
When supporting children and young adults showing challenging behaviours, we adopt a framework set out by Positive Behaviour Support (PBS). This pathway begins by identifying the cause of the challenging behaviour. From here, it aims to improve the quality of a child or young person’s life, as well as the life of their loved ones.
Identifying challenging behaviour
As mentioned above, we often see challenging behaviour from children and young adults who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), are neurodiverse, or suffer from mental health issues.
But what do we mean when we talk about challenging behaviour?
Usually, challenging behaviours can be categorised by the following:
- Aggressive behaviour
- Self-injury and harm
- Destruction of their surroundings
- Eating inedible objects
- Running away
If you know a young person who is acting this way, getting the right support is vital.
Adopting the PBS framework
Supporting a child or young person exhibiting behaviour that challenges can be complex. Working with an experienced professional is vital.
Support and care must not be based on stopping challenging behaviour. Instead, it should be person-centred and preventative in line with the PBS framework.
One of the first steps to implementing the PBS framework is to identify the causes of the behaviour. This is known as a functional assessment and looks at where the behaviour stems from and how it is maintained.
From here, a PBS plan is co-produced by everyone supporting the child or young person, including family, responsible adults, and any other carers.
The four key areas of the PBS framework are as follows:
- You should consider the physical and mental wellbeing of the individual, including their life circumstances
- Environments should be supportive of their needs
- Offer alternatives to challenging behaviour by teaching them new skills
- Professionals and specialists should be involved from the start.
Our support
We always aim to take a child-centred approach through our therapeutic services and support.
This includes engaging with the young person to help them make sense of their feelings and further understand where their challenging behaviour comes from.
As a key aspect of adopting the PBS framework, we ensure our residential care homes cultivate a safe and supportive environment tailored to the individual needs of each child and young person in our care.
If you would like to find out more about the support we offer for challenging behaviour in children, contact a member of our team today.
