Background: The Who's Challenging Who? (WCW) training is coproduced and delivered by people with intellectual disabilities (IDs), and it aims to improve staff empathy for people with challenging behaviour (CB). This study qualitatively describes trainees' and trainers' experiences of the WCW. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were undertaken…

Positive Behaviour Support is an applied behaviour analytic system of support that is utilised in schools and in residential care settings for children and adults with disabilities who engage in challenging behaviour. Implementation fidelity depends on appropriate staff training and organisational behaviour management. A systematic literature…

Discovery awareness (DA) is an approach to using video within structured meetings to help staff become more mindful, aware and interested in a client they are supporting who has intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour. The objective was to evaluate whether, and how, DA is helpful for staff in both inpatient and community settings, and…

Background: There is strong evidence about the effectiveness of Active Support. Recent research has established predictors of good Active Support as staff training, practice leadership, and service setting size. This paper explores features of organisational leadership and structures predictive of Active Support. Methods: Multilevel modelling with…

This paper explores the incidence of children's social, emotional and behavioural difficulties within areas of multiple deprivation in one Local Authority in Wales and the potential effects of targeted training interventions on the quality of adult-child interactions. The quality of adult-child interaction was measured pre and post-test using the…

Background: Research indicates the value of active support in achieving good outcomes across a number of quality of life domains for people with intellectual disabilities. However, implementation is not easy, and little research has explored why. We aimed to identify some of the factors that impact on implementation of active support in supported…

Background: Behaviour support plans (BSPs) are at the core of positive behavioural support for challenging behaviour, but nonadherence to BSPs is common. Generally, nonfluent component knowledge prevents learners achieving fluent application and retention of information, and we hypothesised that this may apply to staff learning BSPs. Method: We…

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a training program focusing on improvement of emotional intelligence (EI) and support staffs' awareness of their behaviour towards people with an intellectual disability based on interactional patterns. The support provided regarding the needs for autonomy, relatedness, and…

Background: The front-line management role in services for people with intellectual disabilities remains rather under-researched. The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of registered managers in services for adults with intellectual disability who exhibit challenging behaviour. Method: Interviews, primarily focussed upon staff…

The majority of the still limited literature on education in non-metropolitan areas adopts an understanding of rurality as a fixed and known geographic entity. This paper departs from such a functionalist perspective to explore how rurality is constructed in a programme for at-risk teenagers in remote Australia. Drawing on a range of texts about…

This study documented the perceived needs of therapists, specialists, and managers who work with children with intellectual disabilities (ID) and/or autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and concurrent problem behaviours (PBs). Seventy-five respondents from specialized PB and early childhood programs within eight public rehabilitation centres were…

This methodological paper details the process of embarking on a follow-up study of young people with sexual behaviour problems who were known to services in the 1990s and who are now young adults in their 20s or early 30s. In the context of the importance of such follow-up work, the overall aim and objectives of the funded research project are…

This action research project considered whether significant improvements in child and young person behavioural and emotional mental health could be achieved using school-based play workers as opposed to qualified therapists. This was seen as being an important practice question as access to qualified play therapists was severely restricted with…

Background: The present study examined the effectiveness of three staff training elements: psychoeducation (PE) on autism, introduction of functional behavioural analysis (FBA) and emotional management (EM), on the reaction of challenging behaviours for frontline staff towards children with autism in Hong Kong special education settings. Methods:…

In this article, we describe an inclusive educational programme for a young boy severely affected by autism. The programme is exemplary not only academically, but also in terms of what children need socially and emotionally. It represents best practices in action. Given the wide agreement about what constitutes best education practices, but the…