Conference Proceedings Report - Final Draft - National Federation ...

The next presentation of the workshop ‘One by One: A new approach to supporting
people with challenging behaviour’ was given by Dr. Brian McClean, of the Brothers of
Charity Services, Roscommon. This paper summarised the impact of Positive Behaviour
Support on severity of behaviour, use of medication, quality of life and cost of service.
Mr. McClean used two contrasting and innovative examples to illustrate the uses of
Positive Behaviour Support for very severe challenging behaviour. The first example was
that of a man with autism and dual diagnosis, and the second was with a child with
profound and multiple disability. The presentation included a video clip of a device used
in Positive Behaviour Support. The speaker concluded that group-based or congregate
models of service for people with challenging behaviours have limited efficacy and are
often expensively counter productive. Instead, these examples demonstrate the power of
working one person at a time. The speaker also explained how to do this would involve
weighing the risks against the opportunities.
Ms. Fiona Coffey is Head of Training, Development and Evaluation in the Brothers of
Charity Services, Galway and has worked with people with an intellectual disability for
over fifteen years. In her presentation, ‘Sexuality and Relationships - Walking the
tightrope’, Ms. Coffey spoke about peoples right to an intimate and/or sexual
relationship, and how this right it is not clearly recognised when it comes to adults with
an intellectual disability. The speaker explored the impact on people’s lives of ignoring
their sexuality. Ms. Coffey examined the concerns of family members, staff and service
providers and identified the obstacles that adults face in expressing their sexuality. Ms.
Coffey concluded her presentation on a person-centred approach to sexuality and
relationships by suggesting concrete strategies to address these obstacles and barriers.
Building people’s capacity and self knowledge, increasing their autonomy and privacy,
and developing safeguards to support risk taking were just some of the strategies outlined
by the speaker.
Generating solutions to managing risks to create opportunities:
Given the comprehensive and very stimulating range of inputs provided at the workshop
the session director invited participants to move directly into generating solutions
whereby risks can in managed whilst simultaneously creating opportunities for those who
avail of our services to explore new opportunities. The following is a summary of the
key points arising from the discussions:
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