UK Young Autism Project
UK Young Autism Project provides intensive home-based programmes, using the techniques of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) according to the UCLA Model. The programme encompasses up to 40 hours of one-to-one tuition per week. Each child’s team consists of tutors, a Senior Tutor, and a Consultant. A two-hour team meeting is provided each week in which the whole team is present, with additional home visits from the Consultant. Within these meetings, the curriculum is reviewed and updated and behavioural interventions are assessed and implemented. Skills are generalised into all necessary areas of life.
The role is a fabulous experience with children and young people with autism, learning about and implementing high quality Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI) and Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) programmes, utilising procedures based on Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). Our layer of supervisory staff and weekly team meetings for each case enable excellent training and supervision to a very high standard.
Each week, tutors spend time working one to one with the child and young people, and also time working alongside other UK Young Autism Project team members, school staff and the children’s parents. All team members are vital to the progress of each child and young adult. Tutors are greatly valued and appreciated.
Tutors follow clear guidelines in how to implement each individual EIBI/IBI programme tailored to each child and learn to provide consistency and ensure teaching is progressive. At the same time, each tutor develops their own bond with their students and can draw on their own creativity in play and activities to keep the child engaged and motivated.
The role includes:
One-to-one teaching using behavioural intervention techniques.
Teaching language, communication, play, social, academic, and self-help skills.
Collecting and recording data, keeping daily records in the child/young person’s logbook.
Attending and contributing to weekly team meetings with all members of the team and receiving ongoing supervision from senior members of staff.
Working alongside other team members and the child/young person’s parents.
May include accompanying the child/young person to school if they are attending school, and/or on community trips.
Personal care – nappy changes, toilet training, undressing/dressing.
Skills and qualifications required:
Please note this role requires a high level of English language proficiency (comprehension, spoken and written). Applicants may be asked to provide evidence of their English level, such as a qualification, a degree taught in English, or relevant work experience in an English-speaking environment.
Preferably an undergraduate degree in psychology or other related fields, or currently studying at this level.
GCSE grade C in English and Maths or an equivalent qualification (please see above)
Natural enthusiasm and energy to work with children.
Effective interpersonal and communication skills.
Ability to listen and understand.
Ability to educate, advise and present.
Ability to work as part of a professional team, including taking direction from managers and giving and receiving feedback with all members of the team.
Ability to work in a way that promotes safety and well-being of children and young people.
Products and services
UK Young Autism Project
The UCLA model of Applied Behaviour Analysis is an intensive intervention involving up to 40 hours per week of one-to-one treatment for children with autism and related pervasive developmental disorders. There are a number of elements that are crucial to the process:
One to one teaching using procedures based on ABA
Systematic teaching of skills
Teaching using behavioural techniques
The programme covers a comprehensive curriculum
The intervention is one to one based with comprehensive strategies for generalisation across activities and environments
The programme is initially home-based and there is parental involvement
The programme includes integration into the community and mainstream school
The programme is intensive (35+ hours per week, 47 weeks of the year)
UK Young Autism Project is a research-based centre, directed by Professor Svein Eikeseth, Diane Hayward and Liz Holmes, that specialises in teaching young children with autism, other pervasive developmental disorders and related developmental disorders. UK Young Autism Project is a division of UK Behaviour Analysis and Research Group C.I.C. The company directors is Diane Hayward. The intervention programme was developed by Dr O. Ivar Lovaas, PhD, and is based on extensive clinical experience and more than 40 years of scientific research conducted in the Psychology Department at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). The programme is comprehensive and aimed at enhancing intellectual academic, social and emotional behaviours of children, so that they take better advantage of the educational and social opportunities available in their communities and require less professional attention as they grow older.
UK Young Autism Project was a replication site, and has conducted an outcome study as part of the UCLA Multi-Site Young Autism Project, which was directed by Dr Lovaas and Dr Tristram Smith. UK Young Autism Project has evaluated one-year outcomes of treatment for 44 children undertaking this programme (Hayward, Eikeseth, Gale, & Morgan, 2009). Mean IQ for participants increased by 16 points between intake and follow-up. 89 percent of children showed an increase in IQ score between intake and follow-up. These findings are consistent with previous studies demonstrating benefits of ABA treatment for children with autism. Eikeseth, Hayward, Gale, Gitlesen, and Eldevik (2009) have shown that the amount of supervision that children receive from their consultants is reliably associated with increases in IQ, and therefore UK Young Autism Project ensures that The child receives the recommended level of consultancy for his ABA programme. The model of ABA that the children and young people follow is outlined in a published article (Hayward, Gale, & Eikeseth, 2009