Studio 3 Canada

09/11/2025

We are exhibiting at the Autism Europe Congress in Dublin, if you are attending please come and say Hi and have a chat to one of our team (Stand 08)

08/23/2025

The phrase “challenging behaviour” was invented nearly 40 years ago, in 1987, in a King’s Fund Centre report. Only two editors were named. The true authors were never made public. No disabled voices were credited.

And yet this "UK-made phrase", never recognized in the DSM or ICD was adopted into policy, training, and guidance worldwide.

Over time, it became a label pinned on children and adults. A tool to stigmatize. A justification for restraint, seclusion, and exclusion.

So the question isn’t just where did this phrase come from? It’s:
👉 Who created it?
👉 Who benefited from it?
👉 And why has it been allowed to shape decades of harm?

Since 2019, ICARS has been uncovering this history — mapping the UK entities, individuals, and networks behind the spread of this language, recovering out-of-print reports, analysing historic restraint training and ‘reduction’ manuals, and tracing how it shaped today’s culture of restraint and seclusion in education.

Our research shows how a phrase with no science behind it, no collaboration with the disability community, and no disabled expertise has become embedded in policy and practice — propping up the very systems tied to the Restraint Industrial Complex.

07/15/2025

“Just make a calm-down space in your room!” they say, as if emotional regulation can be solved with a bean bag chair, a glitter jar, and a cute sign that says “breathe.” But here’s what so many people miss: when I’m dysregulated when my nervous system is in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn...

04/16/2025

We still have two spots available for tomorrow’s online course.

April 17, 2025 - 9 am - 3:30 pm Mountain Time Featuring Jill Wur The one day, 6 hour Low Arousal Training focuses primarily on practical, non-confrontational approaches to supporting individuals who experience significant stress and present behaviours that may be difficult to manage. Training encour...

04/16/2025