Our Be Well checklist is the newest resource to come out of our work at the Cerebra Network for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (CNND). It links together many of our existing resources to help parents of children with complex needs.
What is the Be Well Checklist?
The Be-Well Checklist is a list of the things that are important to assess when thinking about the behaviour and wellbeing of children and adults with severe learning disability and complex needs. Using the list makes sure that these things are not missed or forgotten. The checklist is in two parts: the Be-Well Checklist itself that describes the items and what to look for and the BeWell Record that keeps track of what might be important and how things are going.
When is the Be-Well Checklist useful?
The Be-Well Checklist can be used by parents, carers and professionals when they are trying to work out why someone is showing a behaviour or might be distressed, angry, upset or appear to have very low mood. It can also be used at regular review meetings or any other time to make sure someone’s quality of life is as good as it can be. It can help make sure the right things are all discussed and thought about and help everyone to agree on the most important things to do next. Carers, parents and professionals can then decide together which assessments and treatments might be helpful.
Important Factors to Consider
We explain more about some of the most important things to look at when thinking about your child's behaviour and well-being.
Dr Kelly Wade explains the importance of considering pain when thinking about behaviour and well being in children with intellectual disabilities.
Find out more about common causes of pain in children with brain conditions and how to spot signs of pain in children with limited communication in our Pain guide.
Dr Jane Waite explains how different types of sensory processing difficulties can cause challenging behaviour in children with genetic conditions and intellectual disability.
Find out more about sensory processing difficulties, assessments and strategies to help in our Parent Guide.
Dr Hayley Crawford explains the link between anxiety and challenging behaviour in children with complex needs.
Find out more about how to spot the signs of anxiety in your child and strategies for helping them cope with it in our Anxiety Parent Guide.
Dr Georgie Agar looks at why it's important to consider the effect of poor sleep when looking at the behaviour and general well-being of children with severe intellectual disabilities.
Find out more about sleep problems and techniques for tackling them in our Sleep Guide.
Dr Jane Waite talks about how differences in the way we think can affect behaviour and why it's important to consider Cognitive Difference when looking at challenging behaviour.
Find out more about how cognitive difference and particularly inflexibility and impulsivity might present themselves in children with intellectual disabilities in our Parent Guide.
Dr Stacey Bissell outlines why the communication needs of people with intellectual disability is critically important when we are thinking about behaviour, quality of life and well-being.
Find out more about common communication challenges and some helpful strategies to improve communication in our Guide.
Dr Caroline Richards from the University of Birmingham gives a brief summary of the Learned Behaviour model. She explains how challenging behaviour can be learned or reinforced over time by how we react to it.
This is an important thing to consider when you're looking at your child's challenging behaviour and it ties in with all the other checklist items.
Get a Copy of the Checklist
