After serving in the Armed Forces I left and later developed some mental health problems, I received excellent support that helped me recover enough to transition successfully into civilian life and this encouraged me to become involved in the therapeutic support of other people who were experiencing similar problems such as anxiety, depression other mental health issues and the difficulties adjusting to the transitional change to civilian life. I worked as a therapeutic support worker for a couple of years engaging and supporting veterans, helping them to overcome the barriers they faced, also helping them transition to civilian lives successfully. I am still involved on a volunteer basis where I give talks to veterans, presently at a local hospice where, with my wife, we help champion the support offered to veterans for those services provided by the hospice both on site and in outreach programs.

My eldest son Fabian was born shortly after I left the army and was diagnosed with Autism, ADHD and dyspraxia at the age of 5. I wanted to learn how to best support my son so embarked on self-education and wanted first-hand experience of supporting children with similar diagnoses. I changed my job to work with children in a child development centre which specialised in assessment of children with difficulties, specifically autism. I learned a lot through my experience working there and as my son grew older and I used the skills and experience gained to support him to navigate and make sense of the neurotypical world around him he has thrived successfully. He has managed to gain placement in college and is studying to be an electric car technician.

I became more interested in how to support him as an adult and decided to change my job to work with adults with Autism and Learning Disability where I worked in secure hospitals gaining many years’ experience of not just Autism and Learning Disability but also a variety of mental health conditions. This is where I was introduced to Positive Behaviour Support and the massive benefits and improvements it brings to individuals lives which sparked an intense interest with me.

I became a PBS practitioner and during this time I worked with PBSUK, both Paddy and Tia, where they were involved in supporting our PBS development program into the hospital environment and through their support and involvement this was successfully achieved. I left there to gain experience in community services, interested in supporting transitions from hospitals into a community life, specifically focusing on ensuring quality of life for those individuals in my role as a PBS Practitioner.

I then had the good fortune to work with PBSUK  again during a transition I was doing, and as I had been very impressed by their knowledge, approach and attitude to PBS previously, (as well as them being amazing people!) I was very generously offered a role with PBSUK. As a new member of the team, I feel super privileged to be surrounded by such an incredible bunch of knowledgeable, positive and enthusiastic people. The best way I can express my attitude in my job now is….” Best job ever!”

I am a bit of a nerd in my personal life and enjoy playing board games and role-playing games with friends and playing games on my Xbox. I’m also a wee bit active and enjoy cycling, fitness training and walking with my wife.

Iain Thomson | PBS Practitioner