Prevention, Awareness, Collaboration, and Training (PACT): Considerations for Practitioners Surrounding Challenging Behavior

Practitioners without direct training or fieldwork experience in the assessment and treatment of challenging behavior may feel underprepared to manage cases for clients who exhibit challenging behavior. In this talk, I will discuss the importance of recognizing and addressing mild to moderate challenging behavior with early learners before challenging behavior has the potential to escalate and require a higher level of care. I will emphasize the importance of prevention, awareness, collaboration, and training and provide specific examples of how practitioners can apply these categories of techniques to thoughtfully and effectively provide case management for clients who engage in challenging behavior.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe three prevention techniques and healthy contingencies to program to prevent challenging behavior from occurring or escalating.

2. Provide examples of how heightened awareness can help you prepare for and prevent challenging behavior from resulting in dangerous situations.

3. Explain how collaboration and training with caregivers, other providers, and technicians can increase safety and improve outcomes for clients who engage in challenging behaviors.