If you have a child who experiences behavioural problems, this can be very stressful for any parent and fortunately, there is professional assistance here in Australia from experts with a lot of hands-on experience in helping children and adults with behavioural issues.
In this short article, we present important information to help you gain a deeper understanding of a positive behaviour support plan and ways to implement such a plan.
Behaviour assessment
This is a job for a professional behaviour support practitioner, who can accurately assess the child’s current behaviour.
This involves the following:
- Observation and data collection
- Participant and key people interviews
- Identifying patterns, triggers and functions of negative behaviour
The findings of the above form the basis of a behaviour support plan and this stage usually takes 4-6 weeks to complete. In the meantime, some useful guidelines are shared with key people to combat negative behaviour until the plan is implemented.
Outline of strategies
Creating a behaviour support plan requires the following:
- Strategise proactivity and reactivity – Testing reactions to stimuli allows the specialist to formulate effective strategies that yield positive results.
- Building essential skills – This might be communication skills, the ability to make your needs known, social greetings and responding to questions,
- Support for home/school/outdoor activities – This is essential to ensure a smooth plan delivery.
- Strategies to deal with negative responses – They might come up and if they do, you need to have a strategy in place.
- Roles and responsibilities of stakeholders – Each person should know their role and responsibilities.
This is a 6-month plan, after which an assessment is done using specific metrics. If all is good, the routine should not change and a list of goals should be recorded, with specific timelines.
Ongoing support
Parents receive ongoing support after the plan is implemented and any issues should be discussed with your care provider. Monitoring is an essential aspect at this stage; you are looking for sustainable development in the child and if this is not happening, you need to regroup and identify obstacles. There should be training sessions that parents and carers can attend, which helps them to become more competent in assisting the child in their development. If you are interested in how AI can integrate with children, click here.
NDIS-funded programs are available in all regions of Australia and once you are eligible, you should connect with your local care provider and set about compiling a behaviour plan. Many Australian children are on the autistic spectrum and require special instruction, which the federal government fully supports, financially and otherwise.
Early detection
If a child shows signs of negative behaviour, the parents need to have a healthcare professional carry out a series of assessments. Start by visiting the NDIS website, where you will find the information you need; read about the process for behaviour assessment and apply this to your child; once you have seen a specialist, things will begin to happen. Assess, plan and implement is the desired process and with ongoing support, parents are not alone.
