Alice Turing
Caring for someone with a disability who has behavioral challenges comes with moments that break your heart. You want so badly to help, but nothing seems to work. The behaviors escalate, everyone's exhausted, and you're watching someone you love get more frustrated because they can't get their needs across.
Traditional methods weren't cutting it for a lot of families. Then this different approach started showing up more. Instead of just trying to make behaviors stop, it asks why they're happening in the first place. Understanding what someone's trying to communicate versus controlling what they do? That shift alone can change outcomes. It takes time, sure. But things do change.
Why This Works Differently Than Traditional Methods
The old way was straightforward. Behavior happens, and a consequence follows. Do the right thing, get rewarded. Simple cause and effect.
The problem was, it didn't stick.
The Questions Changed
With positive behaviour support, you're not starting with “How do we stop this?” The question becomes “What are they trying to tell us?” Sounds minor, but it completely shifts everything. Watching for patterns, noticing triggers, and seeing what keeps behaviors going, you start realizing there's always a reason behind it.
Person First, Problem Second
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission backs this approach now, recognising that quality of life improvements matter just as much as behavior change. What the person prefers, what they want from their life, their choices throughout the day. That drives the whole thing.
How the Framework Actually Functions
Research shows PBS uses evidence-based strategies to improve quality of life while addressing behaviors of concern. The best part is it's accessible without needing expensive equipment or years of specialized training.
Digging Into Root Causes
Functional assessment is detective work, basically. Why is this happening, not just what does it look like? Someone can't explain verbally that fluorescent lights are overwhelming them or that sudden schedule changes trigger panic? You've got to figure that out through observation.
Breaking the React and Repeat Cycle
Families know this cycle intimately. Crisis erupts. Everyone scrambles to respond. Things calm down. Tomorrow it happens again. Environmental modifications like adjusting lighting and establishing regular routines can prevent behaviors before they occur. You're stopping the problem before it starts instead of always playing catch-up.
Teaching Skills, Not Compliance
It takes patience, no question about that. The focus is on developing skills like showing when you're hungry or upset. When someone learns to recognise their own stress building and manages it themselves? That's real independence. Not compliance, capability.
Putting It Into Practice
Start small with this. Week one isn't going to be miraculous. Stay flexible; change what's not helping.
Important caveat, though. Complex needs or safety issues? Get professionals involved. Seriously. Don't try winging this alone in those cases.
Assessment Looks Like This
Track what's happening throughout the day. What came before the challenging moment? What followed after? If the person can communicate about it, talk with them. Bring in family members who've been around long enough to spot patterns. You'll see them emerge.
Environmental Tweaks
Sometimes it's not the person; it's the space. Harsh lighting creating sensory overload? Switch the bulbs. Transitions happening without warning and causing anxiety? Add visual timers. No calm space when things get overwhelming? Create a quiet corner. Figure out what's making things harder and adjust that first.
Skill Building Takes Time
Communication apps that didn't exist years ago are available now. Visual schedules, sensory tools, all kinds of options. Pick one thing at a time to work on. Using a device to ask for help. Learning when to take breaks. Build these skills gradually so they actually stick around.
The Communication Piece Nobody Talks About Enough
So many challenging behaviors? They come down to one thing. People can't say what they need to say.
Picture not being able to tell anyone you're in pain. Scared. That something needs to change immediately. You'd communicate somehow, right? Every behavior serves a purpose and communicates a message about wants, unmet needs, or something requiring change in the environment. Some people use aggression. Others shut down completely. Some just refuse everything. When words don't work, behavior becomes the message.
Research published in peer-reviewed journals like the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis has documented for decades how functional communication training reduces problem behaviors. Improve communication access, and challenging behaviors decrease. Across multiple studies, it's consistent. Once people can express themselves properly, the frustration driving those difficult behaviors just evaporates.
Finding what works for communication matters hugely. Visual supports help some people. Others do better with devices or signing. Whatever gets the message through.
Why Family Involvement Isn't Optional
Families aren't observers here. They're learning the exact strategies professionals use. That's essential, not extra.
Consistency between environments makes everything function better. Home, school, and community all using the same approaches means people aren't constantly switching how they operate. That's draining and confusing for anyone, disability or not.
Stress levels drop too. You're not constantly firefighting anymore. Tools that work and confidence using them – both things families gain. Plus, understanding behaviors aren't personal attacks? That changes relationships fundamentally. The perspective shift can repair bonds that were genuinely strained.
Environmental Changes Don't Have to Be Complicated
Total home renovation? Not necessary.
Different bulbs. Visual schedules stuck on the wall. A designated space with soft textures and dimmer lighting for calming down. Doable changes, all of them. Observation and willingness to try things – that's what they require. Not expensive, not complicated.
Eliminating stress entirely isn't even the goal. Learning to handle stress is part of living. But removing barriers that don't need to exist and giving people tools to navigate their environment? Reasonable and genuinely helpful.
Measuring What Actually Matters
Success looks completely different from person to person.
One family is celebrating a full month without aggressive incidents. Another family is thrilled their child made a friend. Employment for some people. Participating in avoided activities for others.
Goals should reflect what people and families genuinely care about, with strategies addressing needs and improving quality of life. Not just behavior frequency. Are they making life choices? Doing things they enjoy? Building relationships? Those outcomes reveal whether support truly empowers or just controls.
Building Something That Lasts
A six-week programme with a certificate at the end? That's not this.
Behavior support changes as people grow. What helps a child won't necessarily work for a teenager. Life shifts, like new schools, jobs, and different living situations, all need adjustments. Strong support builds capacity in families and communities, so consistency continues even when specific workers leave.
Training expands past immediate circles. Teachers understand it. Employers get it. Community members learn the approach. That's how spaces get created where people with disabilities genuinely participate instead of just being tolerated.
What Empowerment Actually Means
Shifting from behavior management to real support changes everything. Not the terminology, the entire philosophy.
People aren't problems needing fixes. They're individuals with needs, preferences, and potential, deserving dignity and respect. Does this take longer than punishment systems? Absolutely. Requires patience, collaboration, and seeing past surface behaviors? No question.
But outcomes demonstrate it clearly. Real skills develop. Families get relief. Communities open up. That's genuine empowerment, not just management.
Follow me down the rabbit hole!
I'm Alice and I live with a dizzying assortment of invisible disabilities, including ADHD and fibromyalgia. I write to raise awareness and end the stigma surrounding mental and chronic illnesses of all kinds.
