Supporting Behaviour Triggers for Individuals with Disabilities

As human beings, we can all get triggered sometimes: certain situations, people, conversations, or even words can elicit strong feelings internally, leading to reactions and behaviour externally. Being triggered by our experiences is a normal human response, and, for the most part, we are able to navigate these occasions without incident.

For the individuals with disabilities that we care for in our services, different triggers can sometimes lead to behaviour that needs support. It’s our responsibility, then, to carry out Functional Behaviour Assessments (FBAs) to help us recognise and anticipate potential behaviour triggers. We can then use what we know about an individual – and their disability – to create bespoke plans, and decide on the best, most appropriate, support.

What do we mean by behaviour triggers?

Simply put, a behaviour trigger is a cue, prompt, or call to action that results in a powerful emotion such as fear, anxiety, or frustration. Often stemming from previous experiences, behaviour triggers can, over time, result in deeply-ingrained, habitual responses that are repeated over and over again.

For example, it might be that a service user with a learning disability has had a negative experience of receiving personal care in the past. Now, every time a staff member tries to get close to them, to attend to their personal care needs, the individual becomes highly distressed: they may scratch, bite, or lash out; they might scream, or become verbally aggressive; or they may completely shut down.

This is because they are subconsciously associating a previous negative experience with the current one, triggering an automatic response.

How disability may influence behaviour triggers

Behaviour triggers vary widely from person to person, and affect all of us, whether we have a disability or not. However, there may be a correlation between the nature and severity of an individual’s disability, and the type of experience they find triggering. For example:

• • a person with a visual impairment might find crowded, cluttered environments challenging to navigate safely.

• • someone with a profound and multiple learning difficulty (PMLD) may have trouble communicating their needs to their care team or wider support network, resulting in feelings of frustration or anger.

• • if sensory overwhelm is an issue for an individual, they may struggle to cope and stay regulated in loud, chaotic environments.

• • an individual with mobility difficulties might not be able to independently remove themselves from a situation that is making them feel uncomfortable.

By taking the nature of an individual’s disability into account, we can become more attuned to the types of behaviour trigger they may experience, and use this as a valuable source of information to interrupt the cycle of experiences, feelings, and reactions that lead to behaviour.

Ultimately, the aim is to give individuals more choice and control over their lives, and we can only be successful in this if we understand what drives their behaviour in the first place.

Download our Cycle of Influence poster.