Behavioural Challenges in Special Needs Children: How Can Parents Help?
Facing everyday struggles with a child who has ADHD, learning disabilities, or emotional regulation difficulties can leave you feeling helpless and alone.
Impulsivity, meltdowns, difficulty following instructions, and emotional outbursts aren’t signs of defiance - they’re expressions of deeper needs.
As parents, it can be difficult to manage alone, so here are the ways that you can make a difference in your SEN child’s life.
______________________________________________
7 Empowering Ways Parents can Help their Special Needs Child
1. Understand the “Why” Behind Behaviours
Every '“tantrum” or refusal is a message - often rooted in frustration, overwhelm, unmet needs or the inability to communicate clearly. Notice recurring triggers (e.g. transitions, fatigue) and start decoding your child’s world. You can take this one step further and get a Functional Behaviour Assessment done from a highly trained Behaviour Specialist.
2. Create a Structured Routine
Structure can be hard for SEN children, especially those with ADHD. Consistency is your child’s anchor. Use visual schedules, mini-tasks, and timers to plant seeds of security, focus, and predictability.
3. Use Positive Reinforcement
Praise effort, not just outcomes. This is important to take in as it is easy to focus on the results. Celebrating the small wins every day, even multiple times a day can make the world of difference to your child. Token systems, sticker charts, and process-focused encouragement (“Look how calmly you did that!”) works wonders.
4. Communicate with Clarity and Calm
Replace “Be good” with “Put on your shoes and meet me by the door.” Make sure your instructions are clear, and try to remain calm. Your child will match your energy so remaining calm throughout any chaos is key.
5. Teach Emotional Regulation
Your child needs strategies to regulate big emotions. Support them with breathing exercises, naming feelings, or offering a calm‑down break. A sensory room for overstimulation works wonders.
7. Align with Schools
Build relationships with their teachers. Ask them for Behaviour reports so you know where they need support, and help create consistency between home and school expectations.
8. Access Expert Parent Coaching: Online Behaviour Support
Parent training isn’t one-size-fits-all - it must be evidence-based, practical, and tailored to your child’s unique needs.
What do we mean when we say evidence based?
At All Behaviour Consultancy, we draw on the same proven framework used in our ABA Parent Support service (designed originally for Autistic children), and we adapt it to children with ADHD, learning disabilities, or emotional regulation issues.
Though the clinical model was borne from applications in Autism, the core principles - Functional Behaviour Assessment, positive reinforcement, and collaborative coaching - are equally powerful and effective across all neurodevelopmental needs.
____________________________________________
What makes our ABA service unique:
✅ Personalised Assessments: We begin with a Functional Behaviour Assessment to uncover triggers, functions, and patterns behind the behaviours holding your child back.
✅ One-to-One Coaching or Small Group Sessions: Delivered via online video, these sessions are led by experienced, Board‑Certified Behaviour Analysts (BCBAs). You receive clear, actionable strategies designed for your family’s specific routines and challenges.
✅ Practical, Home-Based Tools: We focus on tactics such as token/reward systems, emotion‑regulation techniques, and structured transitions -tools that you can use immediately, every day.
✅ Consistent Review and Support This is not a “one‑and‑done” model. We provide ongoing guidance, check‑ins, and plan adjustments as your child grows and changes.
_____________________________________________
Our structured Behaviour Support for Special Needs children provides:
Confidence & Clarity: You’ll know exactly what to do - whether your child is impulsive, emotionally dysregulated, or struggling to focus.
Shared Home–School Strategy: We help align home routines with school expectations to create seamless support.
Reduced Stress: Parents trained in these evidence-based methods report less frustration, more consistency and a stronger parent–child bond.
Proven Results: Meta‑analyses show behavioural parent training delivers lasting reductions in ADHD-related symptoms and improves emotional control and academic skills (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
Bridges Home and School: Aligned strategies across settings to promote consistency and child confidence (manhattanpsychologygroup.com).
Empowers Parents: Our online Parent training don’t just help your child - they restore your confidence in helping your child thrive, reducing stress substantially.
______________________________________________
Learn more about our Online Parent Training for Behaviour Issues in Children
Our highly trained Behaviour Specialists provide the online parent training service for parents via online sessions to:
Spot and interpret triggers using Functional Behaviour Assessment techniques
Build structure and clarity with visual schedules and task breakdowns
Implement praise and reward systems your child responds to, like token charts
Use calm, consistent communication and consequences that reinforce routines
Teach emotional coping strategies like breathing and labeling emotions
Work closely with schools to create cohesive home-school support plans
Adapt dynamically, reviewing progress and tailoring solutions as your child grows
Our approach blends Parent Management Training (PMT) and Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) elements, delivered one-on-one or in small groups. You'll attend weekly coaching sessions, receive practical “homework,” and gain insight at every step.
________________________________________________
Ready to Feel Supported?
Our parent training programs adapts what has been highly effective in ABA-based autism services to help ALL families of children with ADHD, learning disabilities, developmental disorders and emotional regulation disorders.
If you’re ready to transform challenges into possibilities, book a free consultation. We’re here with compassion, insight, and practical tools.
A Message from Our Team
You are already doing the hardest work -loving and supporting a SEN child whose challenges often aren’t seen or understood.
The small changes you make today -creating structure, reinforcing small wins, teaching calm - can transform your family’s atmosphere and peace of mind.
Our parent training programs give you the concrete tools, emotional support, and clinical confidence to transform overwhelm into progress, frustration into joy, and coping into flourishing.
If you're ready to begin translating love into breakthrough moments, get in touch below or book a free consultation now.
