The Low Arousal Approach: A Practitioner's Guide

In a previous report for CareKnowledge, Damian Milton outlined how ‘imagining otherwise’ about autism can lead to more nuanced and autistic-friendly support strategies being devised and implemented. That report showed how support strategies that have been developed without a good understanding of autistic ways of being can lead to dubious intervention goals and processes. It also suggested that when autistic people have difficulties in communicating their needs, a humble, collaborative, reflective and person centred approach is required. This new report explores the Low Arousal Approach to managing challenging behaviour, with particular reference as to how it can be implemented in work with autistic people. This report aims to first detail the Low Arousal Approach’s origins, theoretical underpinnings and which features constitute a Low Arousal Approach in professional practice. The report then aims to describe how the Low Arousal Approach can, and should, be applied by practitioners when supporting autistic people who display ‘behaviours of concern’. In addition, the report sets out authentic practice examples of how this approach has been applied, and the results that have been obtained.