Our Approach
At Bright Start Behaviour Support, we provide behaviour support and psychology services for children aged 18 months to 18 years.
We use a neurodiversity affirming, relationships-based model at the foundation of all of our supports. This means we encourage our clients and families to ‘come as they are’ and hope to create a space that makes people feel welcome to be authentically themselves. We actively avoid using rewards and punishments in our sessions and do not suggest strategies that include rewards and punishments outside of our sessions. This is because the research shows that when you focus on external motivation to gain compliance, and see the behaviour as the problem (instead of an indicator of a problem), you can cause trauma, masking of the authentic self, and significant long-term harm.
Our work is grounded in the principles of social model of disability. We strongly believe that all people should come as they are, and feel safe and empowered to be themselves.
We approach behaviour with curiosity and as an indicator of a need or lagging skill, as opposed to using rewards or punishments to change what a behaviour looks like. We focus on supporting the development of social, emotional, and cognitive skills, and ensuring environments and support people are well equipped to meet the needs of the client. The voices of adults and children who need, or have previously needed, psychology supports, as well as the current research into psychology and behaviour support indicate that this approach is the safest, most respectful, and most effective approach.
