GSDD5012 Behaviour Support and Quality of Life

Listen to a brief audio introduction by Michele

This Unit will provide students with a forum to consider the issues relevant to supporting a person with challenging behaviour to maintain or enhance quality of life.

To achieve this outcome a range of issues will be covered including, identification and measurement of challenging behaviour/s, articulation of personal and professional supports required, development of support plans within a multi-disciplinary framework, and monitoring and evaluation techniques. Throughout the Unit, ethical and legal parameters will be developed.

It is well acknowledged that the area of challenging behaviour can be quite complex in today’s service delivery environments. Therefore, students will be encouraged to consider these very real challenges and how evidence based techniques can be implemented within the constraints of real life settings.

A major emphasis of the Unit will be upon developing an understanding that expertise from a range of quarters is required, both family and professional. The Unit will not result in "behaviour support experts". Rather, emphasis will be given to understanding the most current issues such that students will be well-informed advocates in this complex part of the disability field.

At the completion of this Unit students will:

1. understand the importance of appropriately defining challenging behaviour, including the professional responsibility associated with the potential stigmatisation of the term;
2. have knowledge of the range of assessment measures, and decisions surrounding which measures are appropriate in given settings;
3. develop methods to ensure all personal and professional supports required by a person with challenging behaviour are identified;
4. understand the mechanics of developing and implementing a support plan within a multidisciplinary framework;
5. develop methods for the appropriate, and practical measurement of outcomes associated with the implementation of the support plan, ultimately reflecting indicators of quality of life for the person and others involved.

Michele Wiese is a Research Fellow with the Centre for Developmental Disability Studies (CDDS), and a consultant psychologist to both the public and private sectors. Her career in the disability field has spanned 25 years. She has worked variously in supported employment, community living, behavioural and skill development programming, academia and research, special education, classroom teaching, and private practice. Michele's current research and teaching interests include family/ professional relationships, behaviour intervention and support, and quality service delivery. Michele's practice aims towards the marriage of research and practice in real-world service-delivery environments.