As a member of the British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD), Aspens believes that to improve the quality of life, independence and autonomy of the people we support, Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) must be a cornerstone of our ethos and values.

Positive Behaviour Support is a multi-component framework for understanding and supporting people who display behaviours of concern.  By understanding the context in which these behaviours occur we can implement proactive, evidence-based strategies to enhance all areas of an individual’s life.

Our PBS leads 

The PBS Leads is a group of motivated support workers and specialists who have a shared interest in proactively managing behaviours of concern.  We meet once a month to discuss individual cases, discuss behavioural theories, gain valuable peer support and discuss how to embed best practice into Aspens.

Lucy Russell, Behaviour Specialist for our Specialist Support Service, says of PBS Leads meetings:

"The Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) team leads meet each month to provide peer support and share cases in small, focused groups, so that information and ideas can be shared with colleagues all over the charity.

"The meetings are really beneficial. We discuss principles of PBS alongside practical strategies and ideas for dealing with specific cases. What's best is the PBS leads' enthusiasm for their jobs and how motivated they are to ensure that everyone in the organisation understands and adheres to PBS.’"

PBS training for our staff 

All Aspens staff complete a full day introduction to Positive Behaviour Support so that they understand the framework that they are expected to work within. This introduction to PBS provides a basic understanding of the 10 core components and principles of the PBS Framework, how to build a PBS support plan using evidence-based strategies and data collection, and how to implement total communication strategies.

Course outline:

• The core components of the PBS Framework
• Quality of Life measures
• Building a PBS plan using data collection
• Understanding the functions of behaviour
• Proactive and reactive strategies
• Implementing total communication strategies

Our PBS specialists

Meraud Davis, Positive Behaviour Support Specialist
Meraud has worked for Aspens for five years, originally as a Behaviour Specialist working with children and young people and now in our adult residential, supported housing, day services and outreach provisions. She supports staff teams to embed PBS, provides training and completes functional assessments to support behaviour support plans. Meraud has a Masters in Applied Behavioural Analysis and is working towards Board Certification. She has a degree in Psychology from Sussex University and a PGCE in Further Education. 

John Tomlin, Non-Abusive Psychological and Physical Intervention (NAPPI) Trainer
John has over 12 years' experience working with adults with ASC, learning difficulties and behaviour of concern, including time as a Sports Coordinator for Sussex House Resource Centre, running activities to enhance service users' focus, participation, wellbeing, fitness and social skills. John is Aspens in-house trainer, delivering training including NAPPI, 'Autism – an Overview', Active Support, Emergency First Aid at Work, Safeguarding, Medication and MCA and DoLS.