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Speaker biographies |
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Hannah Smith
Outreach Consultant
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Hannah is a Board-Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) and has worked with and supported autistic children and young people and their families for over 10 years. She has worked across a variety of settings including, an ABA school, on early intervention home programmes, SEN & mainstream schools, and most recently worked for a specialist NHS CAMHS team (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service).
Hannah joined BeyondAutism in January 2022 as the Fast Responder, a pilot service set up in response to the growing number of fixed and permanent exclusions of autistic pupils and challenges faced by schools in supporting pupils at point of crisis. You can find out more about the Fast Responder service here.
Hannah is passionate about preventing placement breakdown, whether that may be at home or within education, and doing so by working collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary team around the child or young person, whilst keeping the views and needs of the individual and their families at the forefront. |
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Matthew Wicks
Outreach Consultant
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Matt has worked with children and young people since 2007, in a variety of settings including mainstream schools, special needs schools and ABA specific special schools. After completing his degree he began work as an ABA Tutor at Ambitious About Autism. 4 years later he left to pursue his career in ABA, studying for a masters in ABA part time while working as a self-employed Behaviour Analyst on ABA home programmes. In 2014 he graduated and began working towards becoming board certified. Matt passed the BCBA exam in February 2017 and has been working for BeyondAutism as an Outreach Consultant since June 2017. He is passionate about disseminating knowledge and understanding of ABA. He lives in North London with his wife, daughter and son.
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Sarah Dominic
Assistant Head of Park House School
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Sarah graduated with a degree in psychology in 2013 and spent a year working with a variety of learners with special needs.
Since joining BeyondAutism as an ABA Tutor in 2014 she has had many roles within the organisation including Senior Tutor and Class Leader. Sarah has completed her teacher training with the institute of education and become a Qualified Teacher in 2017.
Sarah is passionate about creating and developing exciting and engaging curriculums and making learning accessible for all. |
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Catrin Bail
Pastoral Lead Park House School
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Catrin graduated from the University of Kent with a degree in Psychology. During her time at university she embarked on various work and volunteer placements with children and young people with special needs, specifically autism.
Catrin joined BeyondAutism as an ABA Tutor in 2015. She undertook her teacher training and became a Qualified Teacher in 2019. Catrin is now working at Park House School in the role of Pastoral Lead.
Catrin is passionate about supporting learners and their families to achieve the best outcomes and promoting positive mental health and wellbeing. |
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Matthew Le Blanc
Head of Park House School
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Matt first began working at BeyondAutism in 2013 shortly after graduating with a degree in Psychology with Neuroscience. He started working as a Trainee ABA Tutor and immediately became passionate about the role from witnessing first-hand how much of a positive impact Behaviour Analysis was having in the lives of the pupils he was working with. Matt progressed with the organisation to be ABA Tutor, Senior Tutor and Class Instructor before deciding to train to be a Qualified Teacher.
Matt undertook his training at the Institute of Education, and has stayed with BeyondAutism in his new role as a Qualified Teacher, predominantly working with KS2 and KS3 pupils. He is also currently taking a masters in ABA with the aim of becoming a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst. In 2022 Matt took up the role of Head of Park House School.
Matt holds a real passion for promoting pupil independence and generalising functional skills learnt in the classroom to daily lives. |
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Carrie Caceres-Taguiang
Behaviour Analyst
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Carrie studied Psychology at University College London (UCL). During her undergraduate, she undertook an ABA home progamme and remained with the family for two years.
In 2015, Carrie applied to become an ABA Tutor at BeyondAutism. Her interest and commitment to the field grew an in 2017, Carrie was promoted to ABA Instructor. Whilst in this role, she undertook her Masters in ABA and in 2019, graduated from Queen’s University Belfast. In 2020, she progressed to her current role of Behaviour Analyst where she enjoys training the Practitioners and seeing how their application of Behaviour Analytical principles can make significant impacts on the pupils.
Carrie became a BCBA in August 2021 and hopes to continue supporting the pupils to become more independent. |
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Jessica Hargreaves
Occupational Therapist
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Jess has always enjoyed working in paediatric OT and is passionate about supporting pupils to achieve their potential! She has been fortunate enough to work in schools that specialise in working with children and young people with Autism for most of her career but she also has experience in a NHS community paediatrics role. This was invaluable as it gave her a broad understanding of many conditions and challenges that people may be facing in a variety of settings. She is now able to combine all of her experience to look at each pupil as an individual to provide holistic Occupational Therapy input.
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Sarah Motto
Occupational Therapist
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Sarah graduated from her OT degree at The University of East Anglia in 2015. Since then, she has worked in a variety of settings including health care clinics, specialist and mainstream schools. She has worked across a range of private, charity, NHS and oversees roles. She has a great passion for supporting children and young people to develop independence skills, to access and enjoy everyday activities, and to develop their skills, confidence and self-esteem. She recently joined the Therapy Team at BeyondAutism in September 2022 and is working across Post-19 hubs and Tram House School.
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David Anthony
Head of Research and Learning
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David has worked within the field of special educational needs since 2005 and joined BeyondAutism in 2015. Since then, he has worked in leadership roles in our Schools, Sixth Form and Post-19 service. He has studied at a range of institutions including the Institute of Education; The Central School of Speech & Drama; University of the Arts London; and is continuing his postgraduate studies at Queen’s University Belfast. David has experience of working within a range of schools and services, including primary, secondary, and adult provision. David is passionate about all learners having access to an education that ensures they develop the skills and knowledge to become active citizens in their communities whilst having choice and control over their own lives. With the right support and opportunity, David believes all learners can reach their individual aspirations and outcomes.
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Rachael Hlomador
Outreach Consultant
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Rachael studied Psychology at university, with a special focus on Child Development. In the last year of her degree, she took an ABA module that gave the inspiration for her future career.
She volunteered at Focus – a weekend group for autistic children – as well as at a primary school in Barnes, before joining BeyondAutism Schools in 2017. Rachael found her passion in the field and loves to see her pupils learn and grow to achieve new milestones. She was promoted to ABA Instructor in 2018. Whilst in this role, she undertook her Masters in ABA and in 2020 graduated from Queen’s University Belfast. She became a Behaviour Analyst in 2020 at Park House School. Rachael became a board-certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) in December 2021.
In February 2023, Rachael became an Outreach Consultant. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge about behaviour analysis and autism. She believes all autistic children and young adults should be able to access a bespoke educational experience to enable them to develop skills that will have a meaningful impact on their lives. |