Omega Solutions

Behaviour Strategies and Training

Omega,

Sidsaph Hill,

Walkeringham,

DN10 4HP

 

Tel. 07540 707356 (Kevin)  Email: khayes@omegasolutions.co.uk

       07968 423795 (Julie)   Email: sensory@omegasolutions.co.uk

 

Welcome to the website of Omega Solutions, a Consultancy designed to provide support, resources and training for schools, professional organisations and parents/carers in relation to young people who exhibit challenging behaviour. My core belief around challenging behaviour is probably best summed up in the phrase “Kids do well if they can” a maxim of child psychologist Dr. Ross Greene, author of The Explosive Child and Lost at School. The approach is based around the premise that doing well is always preferable to not doing well and if a young person displays maladaptive behaviour it is because they are lacking the skills to cope with demands placed upon them. Teaching them these missing skills should be an integral part of our approach. Just as important are the roles of parents/carers and others working around and with young people. I feel that we have perhaps lost sight of the fundamental need to establish positive relationships with young people in order to meet their developmental needs on several different fronts. I also passionately believe that the concepts of Attachment Theory should be a core element of professional development if schools or other educational providers are to understand challenging behaviour and provide effective support for young people who have difficulty in coping with stressors in their lives. In my professional training as a teacher psychology appeared in the form of Piaget's Developmental theories and Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development - fantastic concepts, but not directly relevant when dealing with a young person who has lost control and is hitting out at people, throwing things in the classroom or climbing the fence around the playground. There is an urgent need for teachers, teaching assistants and other professionals to have a good working knowledge of the effects of developmental trauma and possible ways of addressing difficulties arising from early childhood experiences. Research has shown that the trauma of neglect is far more pervasive, far more damaging than that of abuse. That is not to downplay the devastating effect that abuse has on many lives, but common understanding would probably reverse that judgement. The most frightening realisation for me is that neglect is much more likely to affect far greater numbers of children than abuse. There is a myth that children are naturally resilient. Our help, support and guidance throughout their early life is essential for their healthy development and well-being, as what happens in infancy echoes down the years. Kevin Hayes

Copyright © Kevin & Julie Hayes 2021