Supporting Positive Behaviour in Intellectual Disabilities and Autism: Practical Strategies for Addressing Challenging Behaviour

by Tony Osgood

Overview

This highly practical book is an accessible and grounded handbook for addressing challenging behaviour in children and adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD), including autism. It recognises that challenging behaviour does not appear out of nowhere and is meaningful for the person exhibiting it. Behaviour can be communicative and an important signifier of underlying sensory or environmental issues. Focusing on a person-centred approach throughout, the book has advice and strategies for working with the client's families, support staff and professionals. It also presents best practice for analysing and addressing challenging behaviour in various settings such as schools, hospitals and the home, all while stressing the need to keep the human story at the heart of any assessment and intervention. Each chapter features questions for discussion or reflection and exercises for the reader to complete.

Informal, frank and free of jargon, this is indispensable for professionals, parents, and anyone working with people with intellectual disability or autism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787751330
Publisher:	Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publication date:	12/19/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Tony Osgood has worked with challenging behaviour for 30 years. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Intellectual&Developmental Disabilities at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent. He lives in Kent, UK.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 11

2 Manifesto: A Bill of Rights (and Wrongs) 35

3 Working Together or Pulling Apart? 39

4 Behaviour is Lawful even when Awful: Exotic Communication 45

5 The Elephants in the Room: On Being Person Centred 73

6 Exploring: Understanding a Different Story 115

7 Being There and Doing More: Support Strategies 145

8 Hits Happen: Keeping Tilings Together when Things go Wrong 181

9 What People have Taught Me 203

10 Afterword: What I Think when I Talk about Autism 213

References 227

About the Author 233

Subject Index 235

Author Index 239

Editorial Reviews

This is a person-centred book by a person-centred writer. Tony Osgood makes Positive Behaviour Support both accessible and achievable and focuses us directly on the values on which all support should be based. It tells us in simple terms how to do things with people instead of to them and how to work together with families instead of against them. We need more books like this please.

Sarah Leitch

Osgood states that "challenging behaviour often means someone is experiencing a challenging life" and this theme runs throughout this excellent book, encouraging us to see quality of life as an essential starting point for our support of people who present with behaviours that challenge... "do not skimp on quality of life: it is the job of services to deliver it".

Dr Anne MacDonald

Tony Osgood speaks from 30 years of experience, which is evident in the richness of insights he shares throughout this book... Highlights include Osgood's novel and refreshingly honest way of confronting the challenges for professionals and families working together... Humour and seriousness are aptly balanced. Another chapter is dedicated to the importance of communication, namely the role of mediators in thinking of legitimate ways to hear the person's message better and nurture the 'ebb and flow of interactions'...
Not surprisingly, there is plenty of strong science here, and Osgood takes the reader through PBS essentials such as person centred functional behaviour assessment, working with multiple behaviours and behavioural functions, and use of data recording...
This is the kind of book that will be of high interest to experienced practitioners...Then again, it is also a book that students and early career practitioners will benefit from in that it puts out key messages and sows the seeds for the right thinking from the beginning. The book is a highly refreshing read.

BILD, International Journal of Positive Behavioural Support - Nick Hagiliassis Consultant Psychologist and Research Lead

This book is a must read for anyone who supports individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities or autism. The author describes Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) in a way that is understandable while emphasizing PBS core values of ensuring the highest quality of life for all people, including those with challenging behaviour.

Rose Iovannone

Following the presentation of my shiny new Positive Behavioural Support practitioner badge, Tony gave me a gentle nudge back into Serviceland along with this reminder: "your presence is a promise". Those words were significant and still resonate. This book is a practical, meaningful tour de force that expands on those words and then some. It is a must read for anyone interested in elephants, robots, humans, exploring, and of course, understanding challenging behaviour from a person-centred perspective.

Darren Parnell