Positive Behaviour Support in school-aged children

PBS is grounded in the philosophical and scientific foundations of behaviour analysis but also draws on the values and methods of prevention science, implementation science, and, more recently, positive psychology. It is underpinned by the philosophy that human beings thrive in predictable spaces where expectations are clear, new skills are taught, and positive behaviours are richly reinforced. PBS is identified as an effective approach to supporting young children with behaviours that challenge them. PBS focuses on understanding the purpose of the behaviour and replacing it through adaptive alternatives by teaching new skills in a positive way (Grey, I., Mesbur, M., Lydon, H., Healy, O., & Thomas, J., 2018) and modifying the environment to be most supportive of the child’s needs, such as adjusted routines, access to tools, and skilled responders to the challenges.

All children are still learning how to interpret their internal world and communicate it to those around them appropriately. Children with ASD, global developmental delays and other learning challenges can have difficulty communicating. Every child has their own set of strengths and difficulties and while some children are able to let their parents know what they want, it can be difficult for other children to notice and then communicate verbally things they do and don’t want, about how they feel or what they are afraid of. When children are unable to communicate easily or when attempts at communication are misunderstood, often the only option left for them is a behavioural response. Many of the challenging behaviours exhibited by children are better understood as communication attempts where verbal skills may be limited.

A behaviour or set of behaviours can be labelled as undesirable or challenging when they do not fit in with what the environment or society expects. In applying this social construct of the term ‘challenging behaviour’, the child is not the one with the challenge – it is the environment around that child that deems the behaviour ‘inappropriate’ or ‘challenging’. To the child, their behaviour is neither ‘negative’ or ‘positive’ or ‘challenging’, it is just their response to their environment or a specific situation. All too often the child is labelled as ‘challenging’ or ‘difficult’ when their behaviour is a response to the limitations of their environment in providing them with the support they need to communicate (Gore,et al., 2013).

Currently, in Australia, behaviour support practitioners are drawn from a range of professional backgrounds including psychology, speech pathology, occupational therapy, special education, social work, and learning disability nursing. Behaviour support practitioners typically are engaged with a child to conduct functional behavioural assessments and to write and monitor behaviour support plans. They offer specialist input, advice and support to the child, their family, and others in the child’s life including other practitioners such as early childhood educators, therapists, and support workers. Together, these people constitute the ‘team around the child’ to achieve the best outcomes for the child. Behaviour support practitioners will have a range of characteristics and skills which they bring to the relationship, and identifying strengths and gaps will ensure a ‘good fit’ between the practitioner, the child, and the team around them.

The primary aim of PBS is to achieve positive lifestyle experiences that commonly involve shaping and restructuring the environment to improve the child’s quality of life, and that of the people who support them, as defined by the child’s unique preferences and needs. Areas supporting quality of life can include respect and dignity, having choice and control, feeling competent, likeable and purposeful, having genuine friendships, participating in the school community, and having good mental and physical health (Aspect, 2017). PBS focuses on understanding the purpose of the behaviour and increasing positive behaviours rather than punishing negative ones.

American Psychiatric Association. (2023). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787

Dew, A., Jones, A., Horvat, K., Cumming, T., Dillon Savage, I., & Dowse, L. (2017). Understanding Behaviour Support Practice: Young Children (0–8 years) with Developmental Delay and Disability. UNSW Sydney

Gore, N. J., McGill, P., Toogood, S., Allen, D., Hughes, J. C., Baker, P., … & Denne, L. D. (2013). Definition and scope for positive behavioural support. International Journal of Positive Behavioural Support, 3(2), 14-23.

Grey, I., Mesbur, M., Lydon, H., Healy, O., & Thomas, J. (2018). An evaluation of positive behavioural support for children with challenging behaviour in community settings. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 22(4), 394-411.

Kozlowski, A. M., Matson, J. L., & Rieske, R. D. (2012). Gender effects on challenging behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 6(2), 958-964.

Sugai, G., Horner, R. H., Dunlap, G., Hieneman, M., Lewis, T. J., Nelson, C. M., … Ruef, M. (2000). Applying Positive Behavior Support and Functional Behavioral Assessment in Schools. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2(3), 131–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/109830070000200302

Sugai, G., Horner, R., Sailor, W., Dunlap, G., Eber, L., & Lewis, T. (2004). School-wide positive behavior support: Implementers’ blueprint and selfassessment. University of Oregon, Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, Eugene. Retrieved from Http://Pbis. Org/English/Handouts. Htm On, 8, 2004.