The most important thing that we need to understand is that behaviour is a form of communication; it is a language within its self.  It is, in fact normal for children to behave in challenging ways at different stages and in particular situations.  If you can understand why your child behaves in a particular way, we can work out how best to respond.

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Understanding the developmental reasons and emotions behind our child’s

behaviour doesn’t mean you can ignore challenging behaviour, but it does

help you work out how to respond. Also, knowing what’s typical at

different stages and in different circumstances help you know whether you

need extra help with your child’s behaviour.

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When people behave in a way that challenges us, we often question why

they're behaving in this way. We must consider the origins of the behaviour and what the message behind the behaviour might be, this will help you to understand the meaning behind the actions and help avoid attaching labels to a person.

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Behaviour Management

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Behaviour management is about guiding your child’s behaviour so that

they learn the appropriate way to behave. Behaviours that are repeated

have some sort of function. Identifying the function of behaviour means

investigating why that behaviour is occurring.  This means looking at what

happens before (antecedents), during (the behaviour itself) and after the

behaviour (consequence) – known as the ABC approach. After multiple

observations of the behaviour, one can begin to form a hypothesis or

theory on why the behaviour may occur and when it is likely to occur. 

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No single behaviour management strategy will fix everything. Some

strategies might work better than others for your family and situation. You’ll probably have to use a few strategies in combination. ASD and ME will help you to identify the theory behind the behaviour and provide guidance to implement some evidence-based strategies

 

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