Sandra is a PBS Practitioner working for PBSUk. She has 20 years of experience working within the field of ABA with a variety of people of different ages and across different settings. She has an MSc in ABA. She has a special interest in rapport building and increasing quality of life.

Paddy has spent over 15 years working in environments providing support to individuals (adults and children) whose behaviours might be described as ‘complex’ or ‘challenging’. These environments have included family homes, schools, residential care homes, supported living services and specialist hospitals. Paddy believes that assessment must be as focused on the environment as it is on the individual. Understanding the relationship between an individual and their environment is key in developing successful support strategies. Paddy holds a BSc in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and an MSc in Applied Behaviour Analysis and is interested in applying skills from these courses to; improve carer wellbeing, to improve organisational processes and performance and of course to improve the quality of life for people receiving support.

Lee Millman, work for Havencare in the Southwest. Have been supporting people with Learning Disabilities for the past 20 years for Havencare in various different roles. I have seen how PBS can really have a positive impact on people we have supported, and also the positive effect that this can have on the teams supporting as well. I am keen on continuing to develop knowledge in all areas and take all the opportunities to learn that I can. Jenna Worley completed a Bachelors Degree in Social Policy & Criminal Law, Jenna started working within Social Care. With over 22 years working within Adult Social Care Jenna has various roles from Residential Care Manager, Quality Assurance Manager, Training Manager and now Service Manager for Supported Living and Domiciliary Care Services.

Having undertaken a plethora of qualifications over the 22 years, Jenna is qualified in teaching, strategic planning and operations, practice leader for positive behavioural support and has specialist interests in assistive technology and positive behaviour support and management.

Hania Tasiemska-Edwards: Like many others I fell into the job and never looked back! Initially studying for BA degree in International Relations a friend of mine thought I had an aptitude for working with autistic people (and as student the shift work sounded like a good idea) so I give it a try. Now nearly two decades later and after several different roles supporting people with autism, learning disabilities and complex needs, I cannot imagine doing anything else. I started my journey as care support worker, progressing to a senior position, before spending time in a role of PBS Practitioner. PBS was always integral part of the support the organisation I work for delivered so it naturally became a bread and butter of my everyday practice. In 2015 and changed my role to a Registered Manager of a small residential home, in that role I focussed on Transforming Care Cohort and PBS was at the heart of the support, I have seen first-hand the improvement in the quality of life for the individuals who spend far too long detained in hospital. I have built on the experience and skills I gained at that time and became a Transforming Care Lead, supporting business development team in developing new community options for this population group and ensuring PBS plays integral part of the service delivery. Nearly a year ago I changed my role again to Group Head of PBS for Salutem Care and Education. Currently, I support services in implementing PBS approach, offer consultation, training and formal behavioural assessment as well as implementation of our Reducing Restrictive Practice pathway across the organisation. I was also lucky enough to be able to return to university and complete master’s degree in Autism, and qualification in Positive Behavioural Support. I am an experienced trainer in a number of topics including Positive Behavioural Management, Positive Behavioural Support and Person-Centred Active Support. I can truly say that I have learnt so much from every person that I have supported over the years and that seeing them thrive gives me a great sense of achievement and job satisfaction.

Description: The drive to prevent people with learning disabilities from “living” in hospital settings is welcome and long overdue. One of the challenges that has been described in achieving this ambition is the skills gap between social care and hospital settings. Some social care providers have introduced a clinical element into their model of support in order to address this gap. This presentation describes how PBS4 has been established to meet the needs of people with complex needs so as they can receive clinically led support in their own homes. Examples of lessons learnt will be shared alongside suggestions for future developments.

Jonathan Bio: Jonathan is a Registered Nurse in Learning Disabilities. He is the Royal College of Nursing’s Professional Lead in Learning Disabilities and Chief Enablement Officer/Nurse Consultant for PBS4, a social care provider that supports people who display challenging behaviours, including offending behaviours. Jonathan has a MSc in Positive Behaviour Support and has worked nationally on setting standards for good PBS practice. He has previously worked in various NHS learning disability settings, including establishing Intensive Support Teams in Hampshire. He has undertaken work for the Department of Health mapping the needs of offenders with learning disabilities and been Learning Disability Policy Manager for the Care Quality Commission to improve regulation of the support people with learning disabilities receive.

Sam Bio: Sam is a BCBA working as the Senior PBS Clinician for PBS4 overseeing the clinical and new business support and is a Trustee at The Loddon Foundation . Sam has many years of experience working across all age ranges and in various settings beginning as a support worker working with children with disabilities. Sam has special interest in training and skilling up teams who are providing direct support using evidence-based methods. Understanding rapport and how to build rapport is a particular interest as this forms the foundations of support and implementation of any further interventions.

Paddy has spent over 15 years working in environments providing support to individuals (adults and children) whose behaviours might be described as ‘complex’ or ‘challenging’. These environments have included family homes, schools, residential care homes, supported living services and specialist hospitals. Paddy believes that assessment must be as focused on the environment as it is on the individual. Understanding the relationship between an individual and their environment is key in developing successful support strategies. Paddy holds a BSc in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and an MSc in Applied Behaviour Analysis and is interested in applying skills from these courses to; improve carer wellbeing, to improve organisational processes and performance and of course to improve the quality of life for people receiving support.

Roy Deveau is an Honorary Research Fellow, Tizard Centre, University of Kent. Getting on a bit, done quite a few things in his working life: many sorts of nursing, support provider, author and researcher, and still looking forward to meeting you all.

Sternhill Paddock is a 6 bed property located in the village of Earring in Newark. The service offers residential support to 6 young adults with Autism, Learning disabilities, ADHD, epilepsy and communication difficulties. Individuals are supported to attend courses, access voluntary and paid work in order to build on their skills, self confidence and self esteem.

Poonam Khunti (Trainee PBS practitioner at PBSUK) has been supporting the service with a colleague through a system wide implementation process and ongoing workshops on a monthly basis since April 2022. This talk will reflect ion this process and what factors have made it successful.

Laura Machin is a registered manager at Sternhill Paddock and has 8 years of experience in supporting people with Autism. Laura joined creative Care in 2019 and has worked across both residential and day services during her career. Laura has supported PBSUK to implement PBS in the service and also ensured the whole staff team was a part of the process.

Spencer Harry is senior team leader at Sternhill Paddock. Spencer has over 12 years of experience supporting individuals with autism and learning disabilities. Spencer has played a significant role in supporting the implementation of PBS in the service and has encouraged the staff team to take on a positive role in empowering the supported individuals.

Becky Cowell - I have 7 years experience supporting children and young people with behaviours described as challenging in community settings. I have worked for 6 years in a community NHS service specialising in supporting children and young people with autism and learning disabilities using Positive Behaviour Support within a multidisciplinary team. I have an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Neuroscience and completed my Masters in Positive Behaviour Support at the Tizard Centre in 2022. At present I am also working towards my Board Certified Behaviour Analyst certification.

Tom has spent much of his career working in education. He is a qualified teacher, SENCo and has consulted for County Council’s on learning disabilities and autism. He has implemented large training projects and is now the Chief Training Officer for the PBS Cooperative, working daily with large providers to create bespoke training and consultancy packages to meet their needs.

Hannah Johnson is a learning development consultant for a local authroity. She is a qualified teacher and has been working to embed PBS across the learning disability providers within her authority for several years.

Debbie Austin is a family carer, her daughter Lucy (14) has a dual diagnosis of Down Syndrome and autism. Debbie is passionate about Positive Behavioural Support (PBS), which has transformed family life by helping her to understand the communication behind Lucy’s behaviours. As a result, she seen an increase in Lucy’s happiness and quality of life and a significant decrease in the behaviours themselves.

Debbie is keen to advocate the importance of investing in families as valued partners in the support of their loved ones with a learning disability.

Laura is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst/UKSBA (cert) with twenty years experience of working with people with intellectual disabilities, adults and children with autism, people with mental health conditions and brain injury. Laura has a Masters degree in analysis and intervention for people with intellectual disabilities from the Tizard Centre, University of Kent under the supervision of Professor Jim Mansell.

She began her career in an early intervention school and residential services in New York City where she gained valuable knowledge and skills in person centred planning and positive behaviour support and applied behaviour analysis. On her return to the U.K she worked within an NHS community adult learning disability team. Laura worked and presented in conferences in the UK, Ireland, USA, New Zealand and Australia and published in the International Journal of Positive Behaviour Support.

Laura specialises in reducing restrictive practices, active support, self injurious behaviour and using PBS in complex and non- traditional settings such as forensic and secure settings and where she successfully implemented a PBS approach in a service for people with intellectual disabilities and autism and held the position as clinical development lead. Laura is currently Head of PBS for a large social care provider Ivolve Care and Support.

Percy Hedley School is an all-through special school based in the North East of England. Percy Hedley School offers provision for pupils with cerebral palsy and motor disorders; autism and communication difficulties; visual impairment and blind; and receptive, expressive and pragmatic language difficulties. Teachers, therapists and learning support assistants work together in trans-disciplinary teams to meet the individual needs of every pupil.

Hannah Newcombe (PBS UK Associate Director) has been supporting the school through a training and PBS implementation process since April of last year. This talk will reflect upon this process and the elements that have made it a successful project.

Barry Reed is Deputy Headteacher at Percy Hedley School; his responsibilities include strategic leadership for behaviour. He has taught and led in mainstream secondary, all-through special schools and a residential special FE college. Barry is a PBS Coach and in a previous role was an advanced behaviour trainer for managing actual and potential aggression.

Andy Hall is Positive Behaviour Support Lead, behaviour trainer and a class teacher at Percy Hedley School. Andy has eleven years of experience in Special Educational Needs and Disability and five years of experience as a behaviour trainer. Andy has played a significant role in establishing Positive Behaviour Support at Percy Hedley School. As Positive Behaviour Support Lead, Andy leads a team of fourteen PBS Coaches spanning the full range of classes within school.

Jo is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst and has worked using the Positive Behaviour Support model for fifteen years. She works in a range of settings for adults and children, including schools, health and social care services and families homes. Jo develops strategies at the individual and service level to improve people’s quality of life and support. She is experienced at providing clinical supervision to enhance others practice within PBS settings.

Jo chairs the PBS Special Interest Group and along with Paddy runs the PBS Matters podcast discussing the application of the science within the UK with a variety of guests. She also delivers online and in person training to other Board Certified Behaviour Analysts to enable them to maintain their certification. She has a particular interest in ethical practice and providing effective clinical supervision.

Nick is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst with 20 years of experience using behavioural science to teach people the skills they need to get the life they want. He specialises in setting-wide and individually-focused Positive Behavioural Support, provides clinical supervision to other practitioners, and uses behavioural principles to enable organisations to achieve their goals.

Nick is a member of the Positive Behavioural Support Academy, and contributed to the development of the Positive Behavioural Support Competence Framework. He serves on the board of the UK Society for Behaviour Analysis, and chairs the Applied Behaviour Analysis Forum, a London-based professionals’ group he co-founded in 2008.

In 2014, Nick co-authored a book with Baroness Sheila Hollins called Feeling Cross and Sorting it Out, which focuses on the interactional nature of challenging behaviour.

Susan E. Tirella is a board certified and licensed behaviour analyst with over 20 years of experience supporting autistic people and those with learning disabilities across home, school, centre and community-based services. She is currently the Clinical Lead at Positive Behaviour Support Consultancy, Ltd (PBSC) in addition to being a doctoral student in psychology at Capella University. Her research experience and interests include the use of video modelling and pivotal response training to increase spontaneous pretend play, adaptations of the interview informed synthesized contingency analysis in a school setting, identifying behavioural cusps, and using acceptance and commitment therapy to support autistic individuals with eating disorders.

Lauren Firth is a board certified behaviour analyst who has worked in the field for over 8 years and is the Division Lead for Behavioural Intensive Community Based Services at PBSC. She studied Psychology at the University of Liverpool and University of Padova in Italy, before completing the ABA masters at Bangor University in 2017, and becoming Board Certified in 2019. Her clinical experience includes working across settings including schools, family homes and residential settings, working with a range of professionals and a range of individuals with a focus on supporting individuals with Autism and Learning Disabilities. Key interests include ensuring person-centred and collaborative work, suicide prevention, supervising others and providing consultation in the field of behaviour analysis.

Shannen Carey is a board-certified behaviour analyst who has worked in the field for the past seven years and is the Service Lead for Spot Purchase services at PBSC. She received her masters in ABA at the National University of Ireland, Galway in 2017 and became board certified in Toronto, Canada in 2019. She has a special interest in Greg Hanley’s Practical Functional Assessment and Skills Based Treatment in addition to being one of the lead clinicians in the training and oversight of PBSC’s suicide prevention model.