BeyondAutism Fast Responder®

An exciting new service 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.

Our unique crisis response phone referral service, provides ‘immediate’ intervention, support and wrap-around care. We believe there is a step between mainstream school and the need for specialist provision. Many children require high levels of support to engage and achieve in a school setting; this requires specialist knowledge and training for all staff which is often missing, due to financial pressures and a lack of the right training available.

Without this support I would have left my role.
SENCo

The service is designed to:

Provide sustainable, critical interventions, including school-wide training, to reduce school placement breakdown
Support the school and the pupil with behaviours that challenge, or those that pose a barrier to their learning
Inform a phased roll out of a full-time service for commissioners

“[The service] exceeded expectations. [Fast Responder’s] support in difficult times for the team was superb. Support was praised by the staff as insightful and welcome with so many ideas to try. The way in which [they were] able to look at information and pull [their] knowledge along with [their] observations of the child and team to pull together the support package was amazing. It was so insightful and even though I have been working with children with needs for many years, [their] approach was super.”

SENCo from a Fast Responder school

About the service

Run by a dedicated, qualified BCBA, our ‘Fast Responder’ alongside a multidisciplinary team including Teachers and Speech and Language Therapists. We will offer support across all areas of a child’s development
For pupils in KS2 and KS3 with a diagnosis of autism and/or associated conditions
On-call service, 8.30am – 4.30pm, Monday to Friday during term time
Referrals, received via telephone or email, will be acknowledged within 4 working hours
If required, an on-site visit within 24 hours, with up to 12 hours support assigned to each case
Support is all personalised
Referral is at the point of crisis. When a child is presenting behaviours that challenge which represent a barrier to learning for that child, and which threaten to result in the child’s permanent or fixed-term exclusion
Our Fast Responder will carry out an assessment, make a judgement on whether it is likely the challenges can be resolved. We will then put forward a recommendation of interventions and support to implement including any training needs
Training would include ensuring the teaching team have the specialist knowledge, skills and confidence necessary to be able to effectively interpret and manage behaviour for that pupil, preventing disruptions to education
Any package recommended would be sustainable and meet the needs of the child, staff team and Local Authority – working with the existing referral processes for targeted provision

Outcomes

School teams will benefit from increased levels of knowledge, skills and confidence working with children displaying behaviours that challenge
Each child will see an improvement in their social skills, communication, and behavioural development
There will be a reduction in school placement breakdown
Keeping children within their local school, alongside peers and siblings will increase family resilience and prevent gaps in their education, leading to better life outcomes

The changes made in school have helped me to feel more settled and comfortable in school.
Pupil feedback

Our Fast Responder

Hannah is a Board-Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) and has worked with children and young people with autism/who are autistic for around 8 years. She has worked across a variety of settings including, an ABA school, home programmes, SEN & mainstream schools, and most recently worked for a specialist NHS CAMHS service (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services).

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.

Want to contact the service?

Email: fastresponder@beyondautism.org.uk

Telephone: 020 3031 9702

If your Local Authority is already working with the service, you can download a referral form here and send a completed version to our Fast Responder.

If your school or Local Authority is not currently connected with the service but would like more information, complete the form below:

Fast Responder interest

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