We are proud to announce that our team members Sarah Knight and Nicole Merrick have been awarded a grant from the National disability research partnership for their project, “promoting psychological safety for children with disability-related behavioural challenges”.

A plain language description of “Promoting psychological safety for children with disability-related behavioural challenges” from Nicole:

Some children with disability also have behaviour challenges, and this can make it hard for them to join in everyday activities like school, play, or family outings. Often, the problem isn’t the child – it’s how others react, the lack of the right support, and not understanding how things around them, may affect them.
Our project will bring together young people, families, teachers, and health workers to plan research to understand this better. Partnering with Yellow Lady Bugs and Heads Together for Brain Injury, we’ll look for ways to support kids who have challenges around behaviour, and help them feel safe – emotionally and physically.
Our goal is to find practical solutions that lead to lasting change. We want to improve support systems, influence policies, and make sure all children can take part fully and safely in their communities.

This project team includes members of the University of Melbourne’s faculty of education, Matthew Harrison and Lisa McKay-Brown.