Challenging Behaviour
What is 'Challenging Behaviour'?
'Challenging Behaviour' is categorised as behaviours that impact someone's life negatively, this can not only impact their own quality of life, but also others. Alongside affecting their ability to engage with others and their participation in everyday activities, these behaviours can manifest in different ways - such as aggression, self-harm, disruptiveness, or destructiveness, but does not mean that the person is inherently defined by any of those descriptors. The term 'challenging behaviour' is only a description of specific behaviours that can be helped with the correct management techniques and interventions.
"When we don't understand a behaviour, we tend to assume a child is doing it on purpose."
How to approach Challenging Behaviours
Challenging behaviours can display and signal different needs in children, and communication is key to enabling support as an early intervention - but how do we as practitioners, parents, carers, families, and friends approach these behaviours?
We have to consider why these behaviours are presenting - communicating with children, assessing their surroundings, modelling behaviours, and thinking about how they may feel. Many children don't know how to express emotions, or understand what they mean or how to deal with them, so we must help them in the a calm and understanding way.
What are the Common Triggers for Challenging Behaviours?
Understanding where your child's behaviour's stem from is crucial to supporting both you and your child - remember, experiencing and learning how to cope with their emotions is new to them, and their emotions are new to you too!
Potential causes for outbursts can include;
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Frustration.
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Tiredness.
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Hunger.
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Jealousy.
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Over Excitedness.
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Boredom.
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Being Overwhelmed.
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Having no control.
With the correct support, children can learn how to control their emotions and express them with new learned skills and coping mechanisms.
Children who struggle to regulate their own emotions may sometimes be supported by SENCO's in schools and education settings, by using careful planning and learning strategies that can implemented in the classroom and at home.
Mental Health Support
Mental health is important at all ages, and should always be taken into consideration when a child is displaying challenging behaviours. By getting support and implementing coping strategies from a young age, children are encouraged to understand their emotions, while learning to develop the skills needed to grow into an emotionally healthy adult.
Young Minds offers an A-Z mental health guide for parent's offering advice on how to help your child with their behaviours and feelings, information about specific mental health conditions, and life events. This guide also signals to where to gain help and support, and how to get this process started with health professionals and schools.
