When we see behaviour that challenges us, PBS helps us pause and ask: what happened before? What is the child communicating? In this 8-minute film, we follow Milo.
An 8+ minute parent-friendly introduction to Positive Behavioural Support, autism and ADHD.
We see the behaviour.
The child who won't sit still.
The child who refuses.
The child who moves.
The child who suddenly needs to leave.
And very quickly… we give that behaviour a meaning.
Difficult. Defiant. Naughty. Attention-seeking.
But what if we're missing the story?
Before there is a diagnosis, there is a child.
A child who experiences sound.
Light.
People.
Change.
Expectations.
And their own way of making sense of the world.
Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition.
It can influence how a person communicates, interacts and experiences the world.
But autism does not look the same in every person.
There are strengths.
There can be challenges.
And there can be support needs.
The child is always more than the diagnosis.
ADHD is more complicated than simply being unable to sit still.
Attention, activity and impulse control can affect everyday life in different ways.
And context matters.
The behaviour was real.
But so was everything that came before it.
If we only record the final thirty seconds, we may miss the story.
Positive Behaviour Support asks us to understand behaviour in context.
The goal isn't simply to stop behaviour.
It is to improve quality of life, reduce distress and support meaningful participation.
Sometimes the child hasn't changed.
The conditions have.
The environment becomes quieter.
Clearer.
More predictable.
And the child has a better opportunity to participate.
Same child. Different conditions.
PBS changes something else too.
It changes the question adults ask themselves.
Before I ask Milo to regulate himself, I need to ask whether I've given him the support he needs to regulate.
For families, these aren't theoretical questions.
They are everyday life.
And families shouldn't have to become experts in every system just to have their child's needs understood.
A child's support rarely belongs to one service.
But families can experience those services as separate worlds.
The challenge isn't simply understanding the child.
It is building a system capable of understanding the child together.
The United Kingdom is asking some very big questions about autism and ADHD.
And one of the most important lessons from the evidence is that no single source tells the whole story.
Behaviour can have more than one influence.
Good support doesn't begin by assuming.
It begins by finding out.
So perhaps the question isn't…
How do we make this child behave?
What is this child experiencing?
What can we change?
What can we teach?
What can we communicate differently?
What can we make easier?
Ava & Milo began with stories for children.
But stories can do more than entertain.
They can help us see.
They can help us understand.
And sometimes…
They can help us ask a better question.
The behaviour is the beginning of the conversation.
Every child is different, but these are common everyday moments many parents recognise.
A sudden change in plan can feel enormous, not "dramatic."
Everyday environments can feel overwhelming or even painful.
Moving from one activity to another can be genuinely hard.
Big feelings sometimes come out as behaviour instead of speech.
Sharing, turn-taking, and reading social cues take real effort.
Predictability isn't fussiness. It's how many kids feel safe.
Members get in-depth tips organised by everyday situation, available to read, watch, or listen to, whichever works best for you.
Join the Family →Questions about PBS? hello@avaandmilo.com