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SCIE (Social Care Institute for Excellence)

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SCIE (Social Care Institute for Excellence)

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Resources and additional support material

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Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)

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At a glance 38: Challenging behaviour: a guide for family carers on getting the right support for children Published: March 2011 Written by SCIE, in conjunction with the Challenging Behaviour Foundation. Key messages Challenging behaviour can usually

At a glance 39: Challenging behaviour: a guide for family carers on getting the right support for teenagers Published: March 2011 Written by SCIE, in conjunction with the Challenging Behaviour Foundation. Key messages Challenging behaviour can usually

At a glance 37: Challenging behaviour: a guide for family carers on getting the right support for adults Published: March 2011 Written by SCIE, in conjunction with the Challenging Behaviour Foundation. Key messages Challenging behaviour can usually

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At a glance 38: Challenging behaviour: a guide for family carers on getting the right support for children Published: March 2011 Written by SCIE, in conjunction with the Challenging Behaviour Foundation. Key messages Challenging behaviour can usually At a glance 39: Challenging behaviour: a guide for family carers on getting the right support for teenagers Published: March 2011 Written by SCIE, in conjunction with the Challenging Behaviour Foundation.

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Information from a charity which focuses specifically on children, young people and adults with severe learning disabilities whose behaviour is described as challenging.

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Claire

Malachy

Laura

The 2022 Learning from Lives and Deaths (LeDeR) report, which looks at the deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people and aims to improve health and care, has been published. We send our condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one.

The government has published the final report by Baroness Hollins on the Independent Care, Education and Treatment Reviews programme, which aimed to move people with a learning disability and autistic people out of long-term segregation, alongside its response to this report

Charities and organisations have written to the Prime Minister about the omission of the Draft Mental Health Bill from the King's Speech

Do you support someone with severe learning disabilities and behaviours that challenge? We can help.

If you are involved in supporting people with severe learning disabilities and behaviours that challenge, we can help.

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Homepage for the Challenging Behaviour Foundation

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The CBF aims to improve the life opportunities and quality of life for people with severe learning disabilities and their families.

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BILD (British institute of learning disabilities) National organisation providing supporting people with complex needs.  

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BILD (British institute of learning disabilities) National organisation providing supporting people with complex needs.  

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bild | Our vision is a society where everyone can enjoy the same rights and opportunities

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We provide a range of learning and development options that fit within a workforce and organisational development framework. We work alongside organisations and services in the social care, education and health sectors

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We provide a range of learning and development options that fit within a workforce and organisational development framework. We work alongside organisations and services in the social care, education and health sectors

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Information from the UK’s leading charity for autistic people and their families. Their goal is to help transform lives, change attitudes and create a society that works for autistic people.

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Some autistic people can display distressed behaviour. It includes what would normally be considered physically aggressive behaviour, such as slapping, biting, spitting or hair pulling, but can also include other behaviours if they are having a negative impact on the person or their family. Below we give some strategies to try and information on getting support.

What causes distressed behaviour?

Behaviour has a function, and there could be a number of reasons for it. These may include difficulty in processing information, unstructured time, sensory differences, a change in routine, transition between activities, or physical reasons like feeling unwell, tired or hungry. Not being able to communicate these difficulties can lead to anxiety, anger and frustration, and then to an outburst of distressed behaviour.

Strategies to try

Keep a behaviour diary

Completing a behaviour diary, which records what is occurring before, during and after the behaviour, could help you to understand its purpose. It is important to make notes on the environment, including who was there, any change in the environment and how the person was feeling. A diary may be completed over a couple of weeks or longer if needed.

Rule out medical and dental causes

Distressed behaviour such as biting may be due to pain in the mouth, teeth or jaw. Spitting may be related to a difficulty with swallowing or to producing too much saliva. Visit your GP or dentist to rule out medical causes.

Your response

Respond quickly and consistently, eg for spitting, wipe away saliva immediately. Limit verbal comments, facial expressions and other displays of emotion, as these may inadvertently reinforce the behaviour. Try to speak calmly and clearly, in a neutral and steady tone of voice.

Be consistent in your approach to the behaviour, and ask others around the person to use the same approach.

Communication

Speak clearly and precisely using short sentences. By limiting your communication, the person is less likely to feel overloaded by information and more likely to be able to process what you say.

You can use social stories to explain why it's not appropriate to bite/spit/hit, and describe alternatives.

Support the person to communicate their wants, needs and physical pain or discomfort by using visual supports. Some people use communication boards to indicate how they are feeling. This could be a blackboard or a Velcro board with key emotional words or emotional faces. Every time the person engages in distressed behaviour, encourage them to use this form of communication instead.

Use rewards

Using rewards and motivators can help to encourage a particular behaviour. Even if the behaviour or task is very short, if it is followed by lots of praise and a reward, the person can learn that the behaviour is acceptable.

Rewards can take the form of verbal praise and attention, preferred activities, toys, tokens or sometimes small amounts of favourite foods or drinks. Ensure that you clearly name the behaviour that you are rewarding, eg "Jane, that's good waiting!" and ensure that rewards are provided immediately after the behaviour that you wish to encourage eg "You can spend 10 minutes on the computer now".

Some autistic people do not enjoy social attention. In these circumstances, verbal praise can cause distress and actually stop the person engaging in the desired behaviour in the future.

Redirect to other behaviour

Tell the person what they need to do instead of the behaviour, eg "David, hands down". Use visual cues such as picture symbols to back up instructions. Redirect to another activity that is incompatible with the behaviour (eg an activity that requires both hands, or that occupies the mouth, such as sucking a sweet) and provide praise and reinforcement for the first occurrence of appropriate behaviour, eg "David, that's excellent playing with your train".

Remove physical and sensory discomforts

Provide relief for physical discomfort, eg painkillers. Remove unpleasant sensory input, eg use ear defenders to block out noise, use sunglasses to reduce light, and reduce strong smells, replacing them with smells that the person prefers.

Prepare for change

Prepare the person for any changes in routine or for meeting new people. You could use visual supports, showing photos of new people and places, introducing them in small stages.

Read our tips on dealing with change and transitioning between activities. - link to new page in behaviour section - transitions and dealing with change.

Provide sensory opportunities

Find alternative activities, or provide a bag of alternative objects, that provide a similar sensory experience to that provided by the behaviour, and build these into the daily routine. For a person who bites, you could provide chewy tubes, gum, carrots, raw pasta or sultanas. For a person who pinches, you could provide play-dough. For a person who hits, you could do a clapping song/rhyme. For a person who pulls hair, tie long hair back and find something to replicate the pulling sensation, eg 'row your boat' game, tug of war, climbing up a rope.

Opportunities for relaxation

Create opportunities for relaxation. You can do this by, for example, encouraging the person to look at bubble lamps, smell essential oils, listen to music, or use a swing.

Distressed behaviour can often be diffused by an activity that releases energy or pent-up anger or anxiety. This might be punching a punch bag, bouncing on a trampoline or running around the garden. Read more about anger management

When a particular person is targeted

If a particular family member or support worker seems to be the target for challenging behaviour, think about what might be triggering it. It might be that a perfume scent is overwhelming, or that the other person is associated with a distressing activity.

Maybe the person is upset when the support worker or family member spends time with other people. If so, you could try scheduling some time specifically for them to spend together and showing this on a visual timetable. Very strict boundaries need to be kept as to when this will happen and for how long. It may be useful to have a sand timer so that the person knows that the time is up when the sand runs out.

There may simply a personality clash between the person and a staff member. If this may be the case, consider whether this staff member could work with other people instead?

Getting specialist help

If the distressed behaviour is presenting significant risks to the person or those around them, try to get specialist help to deal with the behaviour. Arrange an appointment with the GP to discuss the issue and to request referral to a behavioural specialist if appropriate.

Support for you as a parent/carer

There are a number of ways in which you could get some support.

Meet up with other carers, or get support from a local National Autistic Society branch or group, community service or family support service in your area. Other local support groups and services are listed in our Autism Services Directory.

Get ideas from other families, and share your tips with them in our Online Community.

Call our Parent to Parent line on 0808 800 4106, a UK-wide confidential telephone service providing emotional support to parents and carers of autistic children or adults.

Request a social care needs assessment for your family member and for yourself as a carer. You may be able to get respite care or the help of an outreach team who can support you with behaviour strategies.

Get support from a counsellor who understands autism and can support you and your family.

Further information

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Some autistic people can display distressed behaviour. It includes what would normally be considered physically aggressive behaviour, such as slapping, biting, spitting or hair pulling, but can also include other behaviours if they are having a negative impact on the person or their family. Below we give some strategies to try and information on getting support.

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BILD video about PBS (positive behaviour support) 

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BILD video about PBS (positive behaviour support) 

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Positive Behaviour Support: Changing practice, changing culture, changing lives

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Check out our latest events!

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West Suffolk College - Diplomas, Degrees, Apprenticeships & T Levels

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West Suffolk College is one of the country's leading further education and apprenticeship providers. Our apprenticeship results have consistently remained above the national average. We offer many degrees, HNCs and HNDs at our focused and inclusive University Studies Centre. We have around 13,000 students including nearly 2,000 apprentices studying with us.

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Enrol Remotely for your next Qualification.....

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Enrol Remotely for your next Qualification.....

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Contact The Careers and Connections Service at WSC

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Contact The Careers and Connections Service at WSC

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email_ careersadvice@wsc.ac.uk

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Click here to read an important statement for suppliers

With effect from Monday 23rd March 2020, all College sites will be closed with the exception of the Humanities, Arts and Health campus located in Out Risbygate Street Bury St Edmunds (IP33 3RL) which will be open from 09:00 until 17:00 hours Monday- Friday.

A skeleton staff team will continue to operate during these hours at this location and therefore deliveries must be taken to the University Studies Centre on the site where a temporary reception has been established. It is the College's intention to continue to operate as best as it can in these unusual circumstances and therefore it is intended to continue to issue purchase orders to suppliers.

In the event that government measures are extended to a complete lockdown, the College may then have to close its premises completely and deliveries will not be possible.

Please watch the website for further details of this because as you will appreciate it is a fast changing situation. For any queries please send these directly to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

West Suffolk College

Out Risbygate
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP33 3RL

(Sat nav postcode: IP33 3TT - see directions, below.)

Opening hours

Monday to Thursday: 8am to 9pm Friday: 8am to 5:30pm

Ask us a question

01284 716 354

🍀 Message for Students of West Suffolk College about gradings, exams, assessments and coursework

Click here to read the key message

Dear students,

As you continue with your second week of virtual learning, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to you all for the phenomenal way in which you have responded to this transition. I do not underestimate just how big of a change this has been for you all and I wanted to say well done on the progress made so far; and for continuing to put an impressive amount of effort into your work.

When it comes to the grading of exams and assessments, we are working with our awarding bodies as normal and it is therefore essential for you to continue with and to submit coursework because this will be used when determining your final grades. As soon as we have the final confirmation of how grades are going to be awarded for your course, your Course Director will be in touch.

If you have any questions around specific coursework or assessments please do contact your tutors directly. If you need any extra support please contact your Personal Support Tutor or a member of our welfare team on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and they will get back to you as soon as they can.

Thank you for your patience so far and once again a huge well done to you all for making this transition so successfully.

Best wishes,

Colin Shaw

📝 Admissions Message (if you're looking to apply for a course)

Click here to a read the latest from our Admissions Team (if you have applied, or if you're looking to apply for a course)

The Eastern Colleges Group, comprising of Abbeygate Sixth Form College specialising in A Levels, One Sixth Form College specialising in A Level and Vocational qualifications and West Suffolk College Sixth Form specialising in vocational qualifications alongside the West Suffolk College Apprenticeship service; are committed to guaranteeing every Year 11 student a place for your Post 16 education from September 2020.

We know that everyone is an individual, with their own dreams and aspirations and our purpose is to have you at the heart of everything we do. We want to reassure you that regardless of what you would like to study, be it A Levels, Vocational qualifications or an apprenticeship we have the expertise to support you to ensure you are enrolled on the programme that is tailored to you and your needs.

We want you to have absolute assurance in these uncertain times.

For any queries around applying or if you need support with an application, please contact our admissions teams on:

Abbeygate Sixth College: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Our Careers Teams are also available to offer 1:1 Careers Advice and Guidance support via email:

Abbeygate Sixth Form College: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
One Sixth Form College: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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