Behaviour of Concern as Communication
We view behaviour as a way of communicating and work hard to understand the message, listen to people and look for a solution.
What is "Behaviour of Concern"
MacIntyre uses the terms behaviour of concern, distress and changed behaviour depending on the person and the situation. We use behaviour of concern generically as this seems to be the best way to develop empathy and concern for the behaviour without making assumptions about what it is communicating. A behaviour is of concern if it affects the person’s safety or their ability to live their best life. We are concerned about any signs of distress and recognise that some of the people we support work really hard to cope and to hide their distress in the moment and may then express this through burnouts, shutdowns or self-injury at a later time. MacIntyre does not consider self-regulatory behaviours (stimming) to be behaviours of concern unless the person themselves does, or they are unsafe, or impacting on the person’s wellbeing. The ability to manage anxiety and emotions through stimming can form an important part of ‘a life that makes sense’, particularly to some people on the autism spectrum.
Read more about our PBS support
Would like to know more?
Send us a message.
More on Our Approach
Autism
Autism is a lifelong neurological difference in how individuals approach social communication, social interaction and social imagination. There are many…
Co-production
We know that we can’t make decisions about a person’s support, staffing changes or new activities without involving them and understanding what is important…
Communities
We know that good things happen when we connect with others around us. Our Everyone Everywhere approach is about making these connections a more intentional…
Death and Dying
The ‘Dying to Talk’ pilot project will enable us to help people we support, their families and MacIntyre staff understand and feel supported talking about…