The overarching goal was to improve the social participation of people with (intellectual) disabilities (ID) and behavioural problems (BP). The basic assumption is that every behaviour has a meaning and that improving the individual living and learning situation as well as the social participation of PID and BP depends on a better understanding of the reasons and causes of these behaviours (their context and life history meaning). The project aimed to empower support staff to make this shift in perspective. To this end, we wanted to develop a comprehensive and differentiated concept for further education and training on the topic of "Behaviour makes sense". This was to consist of a handout, personal questionnaire, circle of supporters, observation sheet, discussion guidelines, case discussion concept, medication information, biography work, future planning, return portfolio and case histories. The primary target group was professionals from the fields of medicine, psychology and education, as well as informal carers such as parents, siblings and friends. The indirect target group was PID and BP themselves.
People with (intellectual) disabilities and behavioural disorders (PID and BP) are very often affected by social exclusion, violence and disadvantage. Due to their impairment, they are highly dependent on tech-nical support (e.g. communication aids), personal assistance and special educational services (e.g. mobili-ty training and specific adult education programmes) in many areas of daily life. Very often, their caregi-vers have difficulty understanding or recognising their individual needs and support requirements. In ad-dition, abnormalities in the behaviour of PID are often (mis)interpreted as a symptom or expression of the identified (cognitive) impairment and thus attributed to an individual deficit, so that the question of the meaning of this behaviour (its causes, motives, history, context and dynamics) is often not even asked. In most cases, however, behavioural problems and psychological disorders are the desperate expression of being permanently misunderstood. The project aims to help (professional and informal) carers to better understand BP of PID by reflecting on their causes, motives and intentions. It thus addresses a socially highly relevant need and is unique in the field of adult education.