Behaviour issues common in younger children

Children with Down syndrome may display behaviours associated with younger children for a longer time than their age peers. These behaviours will diminish and disappear, as they do in other children, and in many cases dealing with them will not differ significantly from the approach that would be used with any other child. Principles of good parenting practice and consistency are just as applicable with children who have Down syndrome as they are for all children, as are the setting and reinforcement of boundaries. Positive behaviour support approaches, outlined in the resources listed in Behaviour matters, are a useful way to approach any behaviour issue. The resources listed below may also be helpful.

*Publications marked with this symbol are available for DSV members to borrow from the DSV Resource Library.

General behaviour management

*Biddulph, Steve (1994) Firmlove – the secret of well behaved children in More secrets of happy children, ch 3  pp 36-63

*Newman, Sarah (1999) How to change bad behaviour Small Steps Forward, ch 9 pp 195-198

Signposts for Building Better Behaviour program
The Signposts for Building Better Behaviour program, run across Victoria by the Parenting Research Centre (http://www.parentingrc.org.au/vp/index.php), helps families prevent or manage difficult behaviour of children in the 3-15 years age group, who have developmental delay or intellectual disability.

Throwing

Hooper, Jill (2001) Throwing! Suggestions for managing throwing behaviour DSAQ Digest May/June 2001 pp10-11

Getting to bed and staying asleep

Woods, Many and Ben Sacks (2004) Overcoming sleep problems in children with Down syndrome Down Syndrome News and Update Vol 3 issue 4 pp 118-127

Stores, Rebecca (2008) Managing sleep problems in children with Down’s syndrome. Notes for parents and carers UK Down’s Syndrome Association