This is where I share a few of the things I’ve written. Most deal with intellectual disability, autism, and behaviour that challenges
Such behaviour often concerns two things: complaining, and communication. It serves a purpose. It usually happens when there are few other ways for the person to have their needs met.
You have to listen hard to all behaviour. To discover what it is saying. Because to better support a person, we need to understand the message behind challenging behaviour.
To avoid behaviours that challenge, we need to amend how we support people. Great support, which is a rare and endangered beast, is built around the person's preferences. Mediocre support, which is a more common and invasive species, is built around organisational preferences.
Practice Leadership (March 2022)
The bottom line is this: Providing good support is complicated more by our own inabilities to get organized, than by the challenging behaviour. We know so much about challenging behaviour. We also have a fair insight into how to organize that support, but there is a gap between knowing and doing, and this gap is seldom filled by managers and senior executives: the knowing–doing gap is filled by practice leaders. A practice leader creates cultures (culture means how things are thought of and done). Organizations cannot do what a practice leader does. A practice leader implements our best endeavours. A good leader makes all the difference.
Positive Support (January 2020)
Waiting for challenging behaviour to disappear before increasing choice and opportunities means the person may never qualify for an ordinary life. They will live a life caught in a limbo between their severe reputation and a desirable future.
Such waiting exacerbates challenging behaviour. Worse still, people using services may simply give up.
To talk, or ask a thing, email tonyosgood[at]protonmail.com