The Framework
A whole-child framework
The BOUNCE Approach® is a developmental framework for understanding what sits beneath behaviour. Used in homes, classrooms and services across the UK to help adults understand children before deciding how to support them.
Not a behaviour programme, a diagnosis or a collection of strategies - a way of seeing children through six interconnected areas of development, guided by one question:
"What does this child need right now?"
Grounded in evidence
Grounded in evidence. Designed for practice.
BOUNCE brings together well-established research from six disciplines – usually taught separately – into one practical framework.
Polyvagal Theory
Understanding how the nervous system detects safety and threat.
Attachment Theory
How relationships shape regulation, trust and development.
Sensory Integration & Interoception
How children experience and interpret their bodies and the world around them.
Trauma-Informed & Neurosequential Models
Support is most effective when it follows the brain’s developmental sequence.
Communication Science
Behaviour, language and interaction as expressions of nervous system state.
Identity & Reflective Practice
Supporting children to develop self-awareness, resilience and a positive sense of self.
A developmental approach
The six pillars of the BOUNCE® Approach
A developmental sequence – children engage best when support matches the order in which the nervous system develops. Regulation before reasoning, safety before relationships, understanding before intervention.
↑ Able to thrive & grow
Each level rests on the one below. When a child’s needs are met at one stage, they become developmentally able to access all those above it – you can’t reason with a child whose body doesn’t feel safe, or build identity before connection.
Foundation of safety first
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← Scroll to see the full sequence →
B
Pillar 1
Body & Nervous System
Building safety, regulation and body awareness – the foundation everything else is built on.
O
Pillar 2
Openness to Connection & Attachment
Developing trust, co-regulation and safe relationships.
U
Pillar 3
Understanding Sensory Differences
Understanding how each child experiences and responds to their sensory world.
C
Pillar 5
Connection & Communication
Developing communication, relationships and social understanding.