Challenging behaviour and disability What is challenging
behaviour? Challenging behaviour is a term used to describe a
wide range of behaviours that can be demonstrated by people with
learning, communication and other difficulties. It can be argued
that anyone can show challenging behaviour. Challenging
behaviour used to be described as ‘problem behaviour’ or
‘difficult behaviour’ or ‘socially unacceptable behaviour’, but
in recent years the term challenging behaviour has been used to
reflect the fact that some of the behaviours that are seen are a
challenge to us as professionals, teachers, carers and parents.
That the person showing these behaviours is not a ‘problem’ to
be fixed, or someone doing something wrong that needs to be
sorted, but that the behaviour is a sign that something isn’t
working. It shows that there is some need being unfulfilled, or
a problem with communication. In essence it is that there is
something going wrong that needs to be addressed, not that there
is a person doing something wr