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Behavior Supports

Spectrum Support provides assistance to people who have challenging behavior patterns that are preventing them from reaching their life goals. Services are designed to promote personal growth by developing strategies to assist people with learning new skills that can help them to participate more fully in the life of their community.

Overview

As a small agency with experience working with people who have significant behavioral challenges, Spectrum has successfully:

Reduced the severity and frequency of each person’s behaviors
Increased each person’s independence, ability to work and to access their communities in a meaningful way

Part of our success is due to Spectrum’s emphasis on building relationships with each person, with each other, and with partners in the community. Spectrum’s employees have a positive impact on the people we support, helping everyone to Live Their Best Life.

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Communities we support

Spectrum currently provides Behavior Supports in the following communities in Maryland:

Allegany County
Baltimore City (west side)
Baltimore County (west side)
Carroll County
Frederick County
Howard County (Columbia area)

Assessment process

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Motivation

Our clinical and professional staff will work in collaboration with people, their support staff, and families to determine the motivation behind the behavior patterns that are causing distress to them and others around them.

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Strategies

Once the motivation behind their behavior is understood, strategies can be developed to assist the person with meeting their needs in new ways. These strategies may include making changes to the environment and teaching new skills to the person and/or their support staff and family members.

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Behavior Plan

The strategies may be presented as recommendations or in a formal behavior plan. If a formal behavior plan is developed, Spectrum’s clinical staff will monitor the plan to gauge its effectiveness and adjust as necessary.

Meet Melanie

Melanie has been receiving services from Spectrum Support for over 20 years. When I first met her, it was very common for her to sit crossed-legged style on the floor in various areas of the Day Program. She frequently talked to herself in low, ‘eerie’ tones. I would see her many times speaking to and gesturing to an invisible object, in a ‘baby-tone-of-voice and with nearly no apparent concern for her grooming and appearance. This was a daily – to – weekly occurrence, as was the many complaints she made about medical problems or physical distress and pain throughout her body. It frustrated her that medical practitioners often could not find the cause of her ailments. She frequently attempted to “run away” and often yelled out at staff and would sometimes pull out chunks of her hair and would do or attempt other kinds of self-harm—these things went on regularly several times a week in clusters for years.

Fortunately, as Melanie’s relationships developed with certain staff, these issues slowed down dramatically. Eventually she started asking to get her hair and nails done. She then began shopping for clothes that she liked. Melanie started learning more American Sign Language, got a tutor and learned Basic Algebra and became certified in CPR and First Aid; she has re-certified for CPR/First Aid on several occasions. Melanie’s instances of self-injury attempts have reduced over the years and she as all but stopped trying to “run away”; she has explained to me on many occasions that she used to feel that she was alone, and that people didn’t listen to her. More recently, although Melanie has said she feels that things still need to improve more for her, she has said that staff have helped her a lot since her early years with Spectrum.

– Randy Wise