Harassed in the park and down the street. How seemingly insignificant events can affect us as time goes by...

[Donte]

A couple of weeks ago, during a beautiful, sunny afternoon, I was with my dog at the local park when something unprecedented happened.

Initially, even though, I felt a bit shaken, didn’t give much attention to the event or its seriousness, and neither did I know then, how much it will be affecting me weeks later.

Often, this is the case: we are not prepared for something that suddenly unfolds in front of our eyes and don’t know how to react. Later, upon dwelling on what happened we usually come up with responses but that’s only in hind sight.

So, let me explain the incident: While walking with my little dog and throwing the ball, he would jump up and turn around and bark in excitement and anticipation as always. Ball games are his favorite. We were in a dog-off leash park with many dogs around, barking, running, chasing etc and doing the things dogs do when they are off lead.

At one point I crossed paths with someone who appeared to be talking on the phone or to himself but carried on walking without paying particular attention. I didn’t realize he was actually talking to me.

Further down, we came to a nice shady spot and sat under a tree to rest. It was getting hot. I found the opportunity to check my phone and as my dog took a few breaths, drunk some water and rested, he started barking playfully, letting me know that it was time for more ball games.

I started waving the stick up in the air and he barked in excitement. At that point the person I had crossed paths earlier started approaching me and started shouting at me, calling me names and swearing aggressively.

I felt threatened and scared but I looked elsewhere after telling him that this is a dog park and dogs bark.

He walked away carrying on with profanities and in an abusive manner.

The next day, I saw a note posted on the park’s notice board accusing me for being narcissistic and not caring about the impact I have on others.

Yesterday, I saw the same person again at the supermarket. At the exit, he started calling me names and swearing at me referring to that park incident again.

Not sure what to do. I feel afraid. Clearly he’s local. This is not going to just go away it seems. I don’t have his picture or name or address so I don’t know if reporting to the police would do anything. But I progressively have lost my sleep, feel anxious to go outside, and really unease about this whole situation.

How would you deal with this harassment from your perspective? What would be your response?

[Donte]

Funny that after all this time I still think about this event. Especially the challenging and antisocial behaviour that startled me and caught me off guard at a relaxing time when I was enjoying the presence of my dog and the beauty of the park.

It is not easy to reason well or understand your environment fully if you have a severe cognitive impairment and cannot communicate effectively.

Challenging behaviour can stem from biological reasons or it can be a learned behaviour - if a behavior produces a pleasant or desired outcome, it is more likely to happen again.

I don't think challenging behaviour is always synonymous as psychiatric disturbance. A mental health problem may exist, however, though in people with communication difficulties it will be difficult to diagnose. Sometimes I think that challenging behavior may be a means of communication. In cases like this, it may be possible to teach more socially acceptable ways of communicating a need.

Challenging behaviour can be a sign of abuse, distress, anger, frustration, discomfort or pain. It can be a response to environmental deprivation. It seems to me that the most common aims of challenging behaviour are self-stimulation, gaining the attention of others, and avoidance.

In most people who have some learning disability, these behaviors are not premeditated, and are not designed to purposely upset others. Some people will show only one challenging behaviour, whereas, in others, 'clusters' of behaviours are evident - for instance aggression, tantrums and destructiveness may occur together.

I know from my own experience that sometimes changes in mood can be related to depression in a person. Depression is twice as common in women, with men being more likely to show anti-social behaviour. In some cases of depression, a review of certain aspects of a person's lifestyle can be helpful, but for most, antidepressant medications and/or counselling may be necessary.

So how do we manage challenging behaviour then?

It may be useful to carry out a 'functional analysis' - an analysis of all aspects of a person's condition and environment - in which not only the behaviour is assessed, but also the factors which might contribute towards the behaviour. This approach will help determine the purpose the behaviour serves.