Every family wants to see their child feel confident, capable, and understood. For many, Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is an important step in that journey.
At Mosaic Early Intervention, we’ve found that real, face-to-face connection makes all the difference. In-person PBS allows our practitioners to truly understand each child’s world, creating support that feels personal, practical, and genuinely effective.
What is Positive Behaviour Support (PBS)?
Positive Behaviour Support is a practical, evidence-based approach that helps children develop the skills they need to support their behaviour and thrive in daily life.
Rather than focusing only on reducing challenging behaviour, PBS looks at why those behaviours happen and works to create positive, lasting change.
It combines strategies from psychology, education, and social science, grounded in the science of behaviour analysis, to teach new skills, build supportive environments, and strengthen relationships between children, families, and educators. [1]
What We Know About Challenging Behaviour
Research shows that challenging behaviours, such as aggression or self-injury, often begin in childhood and can become more persistent over time if the right support isn’t provided early. [2]
These behaviours can have many causes: social, biological, and environmental, which is why understanding each child’s individual situation is so important.
Positive Behaviour Support grew from decades of research showing that non-punitive, proactive approaches are far more effective in helping children learn new skills and reduce challenging behaviour.
In fact, studies have shown that PBS strategies can lead to significant and lasting improvements in behaviour when they’re implemented consistently and with the right support network in place.
Why It’s Important to Address Problem Behaviours Early
When children show challenging behaviours, it’s often their way of communicating an unmet need or difficulty they can’t yet express in other ways.
As one research paper explains, “Unmet needs typically cause problem behaviour… Communicating with others, developing friendships, and having some degree of control are often missing aspects of an acceptable lifestyle. Many students with special needs exhibit problem behaviour because these aspects of quality are absent from their lives”. [3]
Behaviours such as frustration, withdrawal, or difficulty following routines can make everyday life harder for both children and families, and can affect learning, friendships, and confidence.
By addressing these behaviours early through Positive Behaviour Support, we can uncover what’s driving them and teach children new skills to cope, communicate, and thrive.
Early support not only helps children feel more understood and capable, it also reduces stress for families and teachers, creating calmer, more positive environments at home and school.
What’s the Difference Between ABA and PBS?
Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) has its roots in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), which is a scientific approach used to understand behaviour and how it’s influenced by the environment.
ABA focuses on observing behaviour, identifying what causes or maintains it, and using evidence-based strategies to bring about positive change.
PBS builds on these principles but takes a broader, more holistic view. While ABA is often focused on teaching specific behaviours or skills, PBS looks at the whole person: their environment, relationships, and overall wellbeing.
It combines behavioural science with person-centred values, aiming not just to reduce challenging behaviour but to improve quality of life for children and families.
PBS focuses on each individual’s goals rather than a generic list of traits. As one description puts it, “Intervention honours individual preferences. Particular needs, preferences, and life circumstances shape interventions for the individual within their own context. There are no ‘cookbook’ solutions.”[3]
In practice, PBS means working closely with families, teachers, and other supports to understand why behaviours occur, then developing proactive strategies that help children learn new, positive ways to communicate and cope.
It’s about teaching skills, building confidence, and creating supportive environments where children can thrive.
How Positive Behaviour Support Is Applied
Here are some examples of Positive Behaviour Support in action with children:
1. Building Functional Communication and Reducing Frustration
For a child who becomes upset when they can’t express their needs, a PBS practitioner might introduce alternative functional communication methods, like visuals, gestures, or key words, to help them communicate more effectively.
When children can express themselves, frustration decreases and positive interactions increase. This is often done in collaboration with the child Speech and Language Pathologist.
2. Supporting Social Connection
For children who find it hard to join in play or interact with peers in positive ways without engaging in challenging behaviour, we might teach small, achievable social skills through structured play, modelling, and reinforcement of positive peer interactions.
Over time, these experiences help build confidence and friendships.
3. Encouraging Daily Routines
For children who resist transitions like bedtime or getting ready for school, PBS may involve setting up predictable routines, using visual schedules, and teaching self-management skills.
This helps children understand what’s coming next and feel more in control, reducing stress for both the child and the family.
4. Fostering Emotional Regulation
When children experience big emotions, PBS strategies might include identifying triggers, teaching coping strategies, and helping parents recognise early signs of distress. The focus is on prevention and empowerment rather than punishment or correction.
Why Is Mosaic Early Intervention Offering PBS?
We chose to diversify into PBS because we recognised that many families were struggling to find child-focused behaviour support. Our PBS service was born from a desire to fill that gap, ensuring children receive developmentally appropriate, neuro-affirming, and evidence-based behaviour support.
Unlike many PBS providers who work with all age groups, Mosaic’s PBS service specialises exclusively in supporting children. This specialisation allows us to align our interventions with best-practice early childhood and developmental frameworks.
Our practitioners are trained in trauma-informed and neuro-affirming practice, using strategies that are collaborative, compassionate, and centred on helping children thrive in their everyday environments, at home, in the community, and at school.
We place strong emphasis on family involvement. PBS at Mosaic includes equipping caregivers with the confidence, strategies, and understanding to support positive behaviour change long-term.
All PBS sessions are delivered face-to-face, allowing our practitioners to observe, model, and coach in real-time, ensuring families experience practical, effective support that leads to lasting outcomes.
Mosaic currently has three Positive Behaviour Support Practitioners who bring diverse experience across early intervention, autism support, and developmental disabilities.
Conclusion
Positive Behaviour Support works best when it’s personal, consistent, and grounded in real relationships. At Mosaic Early Intervention, we know that genuine, face-to-face connection helps families feel supported and children feel understood.
All PBS strategies at Mosaic are grounded in our core values: joyful learning, compassion, collaboration, and evidence-based practice.
We aim to help children build meaningful skills that enhance their independence, confidence, and quality of life, while supporting parents to feel empowered, understood, and equipped along the journey.
Sources
1. Individualized Supports for Students with Problem Behaviors
2. Positive behavioural support as a service system for people with challenging behaviour
3. Positive behavioural support: An example of practice in the early years