We believe every behaviour shown by a child is a means of them communicating. Remembering that all our children struggle with their communication given their diagnosis of Autism we often see children displaying challenging behaviour. 

Dysregulated behaviours occur when a young person becomes overwhelmed. These are very intense and exhausting experiences. This can happen if - the sensory environment is ‘too much’ e.g. a busy supermarket - a big change in routine - a person has spent the day ‘masking’ or pretending to be ‘normal’ - the young person does not understand what is happening or why - the young person feels under threat

A meltdown is a loss of control. This results in the young person temporarily losing control. This can look like screaming, crying, kicking, lashing out, biting and occasionally self harm. These are not the same as a ‘temper tantrum’.

A shutdown looks less intense on the outside but feels horrible on the inside. This will look like the child ‘switches off’ or ‘powering down’.

To keep children safe at our school we train staff using Team Teach principles. More information can be seen here Team Teach website

Sanctuary Spaces

In school we aim to support children to work towards being able to self-regulate. For some children this means needing time away from their peers and the busy classroom environment. In school we have designated sanctuary spots where children can sit quietly, move their bodies or use breathing techniques.

Where children are unable to self-regulate they can access these spaces with a member of the class team who will support them to co-regulate before returning to class.

We always try to see the child's autism before we see the behaviour as their autism is usually the barrier to their communication. 

To view our behaviour policy please click here