ABSTRACT
Acquired brain injury (ABI) has a variety of causes; consequently, people with ABI constitute a heterogeneous population with varying needs. Because of medical advances, there are more survivors living with long-term difficulties at epidemic levels. Despite this, awareness about ABI and its outcomes is poor. Behaviour changes are a frequently reported long-term outcome. These range from absence of purposeful behaviour at one extreme to tangible risk of serious harm to people at the other. When present, these behaviour changes have serious consequences for the person with ABI, their family and community. However, describing precisely what these are and constructing a taxonomy to classify them remains problematic because of differences between researchers, clinicians and families in deciding what constitutes post-ABI challenging behaviour. A definition is offered here that is primarily aimed at helping clinicians decide what constitutes challenging behaviour and can reasonably be considered a rehabilitation goal. An explanation of these being symptomatic of neurobehavioural disability is made. Finally, methods derived from new learning theory have an excellent evidence-base; this volume describes a model that guides the clinician through the process of successfully applying these in the management of challenging behaviour, in the context of neurorehabilitation.
