Family Voice And Professional Expertise

In Positive Behaviour Support, one of the biggest tensions is balancing lived experience with professional knowledge.

Families know the person better than anyone else. They bring a lifetime of context, the little quirks, the history of what’s been tried before, and the insights that only come from being there in the day-to-day. Without their voice, we risk writing plans that look good on paper but don’t fit real life.

Professionals, on the other hand, bring frameworks, training, and evidence-based strategies. They offer a fresh perspective, introduce new ideas, and help ensure that supports align with best practice. Without that expertise, families are left without the tools that can make a real difference.

I once reviewed a Behaviour Support Plan where the family’s perspective was barely included. The strategies looked neat and clinical, but they didn’t reflect what actually happened at home. As a result, the plan sat on the shelf because the family simply couldn’t see themselves in it. When we re-wrote it together, weaving their knowledge with the evidence-based strategies, the whole plan shifted. Suddenly it was practical, relatable, and most importantly, something the family believed in.

This is the real two sides of the coin: lived experience and professional expertise. When they compete, the plan often fails. When they collaborate, the plan has both the depth of research and the richness of real life (when it is all nested within the frame of the person they support's agency and identity).

That’s when PBS actually works.