CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR

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Every child displays challenging behaviour at some point – but what if you suspect there’s more to it than that? Challenging behaviour is defined as behaviour of such intensity, frequency or duration that it compromises the physical and emotional safety of your child or others around him or her.

Children with behavioural problems struggle with uncontrollable anger and violent verbal or physical outbursts, sometimes for no apparent reason.

 

Challenging behaviour can be a symptom of a range of factors, including:

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• a diagnosed condition such as ASC, Down’s Syndrome Or Rett’s Syndrome

• a psychological condition such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

• Environmental factors, either within or outside of the home

 

Left unaddressed, challenging behaviour can put a strain on your family life and can hinder your child’s social, academic and psychological development. Not surprisingly, challenging behaviour is the main reason why families first contact us.

 

If your child is displaying challenging behaviour, conventional parenting methods are unlikely to be effective. Specialist interventions to identify the communication problems and environmental, physical and psychological factors behind the challenging behaviour patterns is most likely required.

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We have years of experience of successful behaviour modification programmes for children. Our experienced and highly trained behaviour analysts and psychologists will undertake a detailed assessment of your child, identifying the key problem areas and designing a programme of interventions for your child.

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Using Verbal Behaviour and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), we will help your child to replace problem behaviours with healthy, age appropriate behaviour patterns and ways of communicating and relating to others.

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Even if your child is abusive, violent, non compliant and displayed challenging behaviour over a long period of time, the right intervention can make all the difference.

Please click here for some case stories of families we have helped.

 

Parents often want to obtain a diagnosis when they suspect a problem with their child, but many children with behaviour problems are unable to get a diagnosis and, in many cases do not require one. We have a particular passion for helping those families that fall just below the threshold for getting help on our health system. And we can help you look at all the options available to you, giving you professional guidance on how to best help your child.

 

The degree of intensity, duration, and implementation of any behavioural intervention should be tailor-made to suit the child’s needs. We also ensure that your child doesn’t become dependent on the support provided throughout the intervention- and we gradually fade this support out, leaving you with a child who behaves and interacts just like the other children of the same age.

Your involvement as parents is crucial; your commitment to implement our recommendations day in day out will directly impact the progress your child makes.

 

The starting point is a detailed observation on your child. This involves collecting data which will form the basis of the strategy we put into place to help your child. One of our Behaviour Analysts will spend a day observing your child in a range of settings, including at school, at home and at other social settings such as at a party or play date. We will also gather detailed information from you as parents and from other professionals working with your child, enabling us to understand the full picture. This will enable us to identify the behaviour problems at source and to tackle them effectively and appropriately.

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We then present our observations to you in a written report, video report or face to face, depending on what works best for you. We will give you an honest, impartial assessment of you your child’s skills, successes, challenges and struggles and will propose detailed interventions for helping your child, including costs and time scales. If we advise you that you don’t need our services at this time we will explain why and tell you the next steps that you can take.

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Once you are happy to proceed, we get started with implementing the interventions. Whether your child’s programme lasts two weeks or two years, we will be with you every step of the way providing the expertise, training and support you need to make it work.

 

Your child’s school may well have its own behavioural professional. NETwork Interventions works collaboratively with other professionals working with your child, seeking always to support and add value to the work of other professionals.

• Added capacity: Your school’s behaviour specialist may be limited in the time he or she can allocate to a particular child. We are able to spend periods of time in different school environments as not every lesson or situation can be seen in one day. For example, if your child struggles in PE and numeracy, but these lessons aren’t on the same day, we will make sure that we are in school with your child on both days.

• Specialist knowledge: We can access the latest research and specialist knowledge a school may be unable to access. Research advances in Behaviour Analysis are happening all the time and we are increasingly being asked by schools and Local Education Authorities (LEA’s) to provide workshops and research for staff, equipping them with the latest, scientifically validated research.

• Combining home and school: We are able to take a look at the whole picture. By observing in multiple locations and creating programmes to address every area of the child's life, we will see a more rapid acquisition of skills resulting in a happier child.

 

Some children progress so rapidly in their behaviour that they go on to behave and interact just like other children of the same age. For some children this may not be possible although even children with the most severe behaviour problems can make huge gains. 
The success of the programme is dependent on a range of factors of which your input and involvement is the most important one. Your commitment and determination to implement the changes on a day to day basis will directly determine the level of progress your child makes .

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Some of the outcomes you can expect include:

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• A dramatic decrease in problem behaviours and the acquisition of new skills and healthy behaviour patterns, making for a happier family life and better relationships outside of the home.

• Better social skills, leading to the development of stronger friendships and higher levels of confidence and self esteem.

• An increase in compliance, resulting in more positive relationships within the family and with teachers, peers and other adults.

• Better language and communication skills, reducing frustration and enabling your child to enjoy interacting with others.

• Vastly improved behaviour at school leading to better academic performance and a happier child inside and outside of the classroom.

• Improved social and communication skills and better behaviour, resulting in a better social life for your child, including more party invitations and play dates.

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If a child does not have an accompanying diagnosis of for example, Autism or a developmental delay, we can expect to see improvements within the first week of implementation. Of course, this requires consistent implementation of the programme created specifically for you child, but if everyone works together we can see improvement very quickly.

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