Understanding and using positive behaviour support strategies in home, school and therapeutic environments

Schedule

Duration : Half-Day Workshop

Corporate Registration Individual Registration

Course Fees & Closing Dates

Overview

As parents, caregivers, and professionals, we support the young person or child in our care—to help them grow, build skills, become more independent, and find their place in the world in their own way. When, we do not fully understand why certain behaviours are happening, it is easy to feel unsure about how to respond. Even with the best intentions, our reactions can become inconsistent or not as helpful as we would like. These moments can feel challenging, but they are also opportunities. When we begin to understand what might be behind a behaviour, we can respond in ways that feel calmer, more supportive, and more helpful for the child – creating space for learning, connection, and positive change.

Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) helps us understand behaviour as a form of communication and it guides us to support the child/ young person, in our care, in a more meaningful way—by building skills, improving well-being, and creating supportive environments.

PBS helps us:

• Understand the “why” behind a behaviour
• Reduce the need for a reactive responses
• Create positive relationships
• Develop practical strategies that work in everyday situations and can be shared across home, school and therapeutic settings.

Course Outline

1. What is PBS? Principles of Support
2. Quality of life outcomes
3. Defining behaviours- understanding behaviour as a communication
4. Understanding “why” and “when” a behaviour happens: Setting events
5. Managing “what” causes the behaviours – Triggers
6. Proactive strategies- modifying the environment, planning, building routines, focusing on strengths and positive communication.
7. Ethical Response Strategies: Developing a practical behaviour response plan.
8. Collaboration and Consistency: working across home, school and therapy settings.

Course Objectives

Goals For Professionals (Teachers, Therapists, Psychologists, Special Educators):

• Strengthen understanding of behaviour through a functional, evidence-based lens
• Develop and implement individualised behaviour response plan
• Build confidence in managing behaviours of concern ethically
• Supports multidisciplinary collaboration and consistent practice across settings
• Contributes to better outcomes through practical strategies

Who Can Benefit?

• Sped teachers, early interventionists, learning support and developmental educators.
• Allied Health professionals- Speech Therapists, Occupational therapists and Psychologists and Behaviour Practitioners.

Speaker

Dr Rucha Joshi

Dr Rucha Joshi holds a Master’s Degree in Cognitive Neuropsychology (Oxford-Brookes University, UK) and a PhD in Gender Differences in the Early Signs of Autism (Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, La Trobe University, Australia). She is a Specialist Behaviour Support Practitioner and has worked in clinical practice in Melbourne for over 14 years. She is currently a Clinical Lead and also supervises new graduates and early-career therapists.

Rucha began her career as a student support educator in an autism-specific school, where she worked closely with autistic children and developed a deep understanding of their learning, communication, and behaviour needs. Over the years, she has worked with children, young people, and adults across a range of settings, including those with trauma backgrounds, autism, and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Her work focuses on using evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches that can be applied meaningfully at home, in schools, and in clinical environments.

She has also delivered PBS workshops across Victoria, Australia, for a wide range of audiences including families, carers, teachers, special educators, and allied health professionals. Alongside her clinical and training work, she continues to contribute to research in autism, carer supports, and Positive Behaviour Support.

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