How we do Positive Behaviour Support best

From this information, practitioners have clarity on the participant’s strengths and support requirements, and this evidence-based approach is what forms a highly effective PBS plan. It is also consistent with the NDIS Commission’s Positive Behaviour Support Capability Framework, which highlights the importance of a comprehensive, person-centred assessment to inform safe and effective support.

Practitioners learn about the participant’s history, communication, routines, relationships and the contexts where behaviours are most likely to occur.

These discussions explore areas such as:

• Communication style and preferences
• Daily routines and surroundings
• Strengths, interests and goals
• Factors that appear to trigger or follow behaviours of concern
• Present support strategies and their effectiveness

The goal is to recognise behaviours of concern in relation to the participant’s everyday experiences, not just viewing incidents in isolation.

Looking at previous records can reveal patterns and important contextual information that would be difficult or impossible to identify through current observations alone. Examining these records also allows practitioners to see which strategies have been implemented previously, how effective they were and whether additional approaches may be required, instead of repeating interventions that have already proved ineffective.

Importantly, these are not diagnostic tools and do not provide a definitive explanation as to why a behaviour occurs. Instead, they are used to produce hypotheses about the potential function of a behaviour based on the responses of people who know the participant well. These are then explored further through direct observation and other assessment methods.

In these different circumstances, practitioners can gain a better understanding of the situations, interactions and environmental factors associated with these behaviours of concern.

It records three key parts of an event:

• Antecedent – what happened immediately before the behaviour
• Behaviour – a clear, objective description of exactly what the participant did
• Consequence – what happened immediately after the behaviour

By looking at these three aspects together, practitioners can identify patterns and gain a sense of what might be influencing or maintaining a behaviour.

Families, carers and support workers can also assist with the ABC data collection in between practitioner visits. With support and training from the practitioner, they record observations in a consistent way that provides useful information across different settings and times of the day.

For example, a parent might have said to the child, ‘stop playing a game and do homework’ before the behaviour occurred (antecedent). The child then threw their school bag and screamed (this is the behaviour). The homework was delayed while the parent calmed the situation (consequence). When similar patterns are recorded over time, the practitioner can identify common triggers and put together strategies that better support the participant.

A scatter plot could show that a participant regularly becomes distressed during the last lesson of the school day or after arriving home in the afternoon. Recognising these recurring patterns allows the practitioner to investigate possible contributing factors, like fatigue or changes in routine, and establish strategies to support the participant during those times.

These written observations provide detailed accounts of what the practitioner sees before, during and after a participant’s behaviour, including the surrounding environment, their interactions and their responses.

Narrative recording captures the broader context of an event and identifies subtle factors that influence that behaviour, such as changes in communication, body language, sensory experiences or social interactions.