Studio 3 Canada

It’s time to move beyond the “functions” of a behavior.

The traditional four functions: attention, escape, tangible, and sensory, offer a surface-level view of a child’s behavior. They identify what a behavior accomplishes in the moment but often miss the deeper context. Each child’s experience, state of regulation and personal history shape behavior, and these antiquated, broad categories can overlook individual needs. In fact, by reducing behavior to categories like “attention-seeking,” we risk ignoring the emotional, sensory, or cognitive realities that drive behavior. This over-simplification can lead to generic behavior management or behavior modification rather than providing meaningful support to the child.

Modern neuroscience, trauma-informed care, and research on interoception have taught us that behavior is a signal, a clue that a child is either dysregulated, unable to solve a problem, or lacking a skill. That’s why a shift to the PENS lens is necessary and honors all that we’ve learned about the brain since the original four “functions” were considered generally acceptable.

This re-frame guides us to understand the problem a child can’t solve, an emotion they can’t handle, a need that’s not being met, or the skill not yet developed. With this new lens, the PENS lens, we don’t just label or simplify behaviors, we use them as entry points to offer individualized support. While the original four functions ‘blame’ the child for the observable behavior, each component of the PENS lens offers an opportunity to HELP the child: HELP them solve a problem, HELP them manage an emotion, HELP them meet a need or HELP them learn a skill.

So grab your pen and write this down next time someone analyzes or assesses behavior. With the re-frame of the PENS lens, we’re not just identifying a function of a behavior, we’re offering the right support so that every problem, emotion, need or skill finds the care it deserves.

Please share this so that we can better support kids who are having difficulty meeting expectations and communicating this difficulty through their behavior, as kids often do.

We just have one more spot available in our November 5th course.

Introduction to the Low Arousal Approach Online Training - November 5, 2026 - Autism Awareness November 5, 2026 - 9 am - 3:30 pm Mountain Time Featuring Jill Wur The one day, 6 hour Low Arousal Training focuses primarily on practical, non-confrontational approaches to supporting individuals who experience significant stress and present behaviours that may be difficult to manage. Training enco...

Understanding and Addressing Self-Injurious Behaviors in Autistic Individuals - Autism Awareness Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is when a person physically harms themselves by head banging on floors, walls or other surfaces, hand or arm biting, hair pulling, eye gouging, face or head slapping, skin picking, scratching, rubbing or pinching, or forceful head shaking.

We are exhibiting at the Autism Europe Congress in Dublin, if you are attending please come and say Hi and have a chat to one of our team (Stand 08)

The phrase “challenging behaviour” was invented nearly 40 years ago, in 1987, in a King’s Fund Centre report. Only two editors were named. The true authors were never made public. No disabled voices were credited.

And yet this "UK-made phrase", never recognized in the DSM or ICD was adopted into policy, training, and guidance worldwide.

Over time, it became a label pinned on children and adults. A tool to stigmatize. A justification for restraint, seclusion, and exclusion.

So the question isn’t just where did this phrase come from? It’s:
👉 Who created it?
👉 Who benefited from it?
👉 And why has it been allowed to shape decades of harm?

Since 2019, ICARS has been uncovering this history — mapping the UK entities, individuals, and networks behind the spread of this language, recovering out-of-print reports, analysing historic restraint training and ‘reduction’ manuals, and tracing how it shaped today’s culture of restraint and seclusion in education.

Our research shows how a phrase with no science behind it, no collaboration with the disability community, and no disabled expertise has become embedded in policy and practice — propping up the very systems tied to the Restraint Industrial Complex.

Neurodivergent Students Don’t Need a Calm Corner, They a Whole Classroom Rooted in Calm, Connection, and Compassion “Just make a calm-down space in your room!” they say, as if emotional regulation can be solved with a bean bag chair, a glitter jar, and a cute sign that says “breathe.” But here’s what so many people miss: when I’m dysregulated when my nervous system is in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn...

We still have two spots available for tomorrow’s online course.

Introduction to the Low Arousal Approach Online Training - April 17, 2025 - Autism Awareness April 17, 2025 - 9 am - 3:30 pm Mountain Time Featuring Jill Wur The one day, 6 hour Low Arousal Training focuses primarily on practical, non-confrontational approaches to supporting individuals who experience significant stress and present behaviours that may be difficult to manage. Training encour...