The TLC

Would you like to come and work with us?

A family are looking for an ABA Tutor to provide one after school and one weekend session per week in Hove.

The ABA/PBS Tutor will provide teaching sessions designed to build skills and reduce barriers to learning based upon the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). This will be for one primary aged learner with a diagnosis of ASC at home.

The ABA/PBS tutor will provide a fun and engaging learning environment, collect data on programs and behaviour and graph the data at the end of each session. They will assist the ABA ABA Consultant with assessments as needed. The ABA/PBS tutor will be responsible for implementing learning activities provided by the ABA Consultant

Full training will be provided. We are looking for someone with relevant childcare/SEND experience - please email [email protected] for a Job Specification and Application Form.

We support everyone who works with us to become Certified as an Registered Behaviour Technician, as well as providing regular Supervision, Mentoring and Trainings.

What’s on YOUR summer reading list?

Here are 2 we are recommending…

Share your best books please! Reading is a super powered delight.
A super functional skill that allows you to access so much of the world, of other peoples perspectives…

What treats can await those patient enough to turn pages.

What to teach, what to teach?

Why not cusps…

Intrigued? Interested to know more?

Read this seminal article-

Behavioral cusps: a developmental and pragmatic concept for behavior analysis. Most concepts of development explain certain behavior changes as products or markers of the invariable succession of emerging periods, stages, refinements, or achievements that define and order much of an individual's life. A different but comparable ...

We have a dream…

That one day…

All humans behaviour will be seen through the lens of skills, repertoire and fluency…

That you can only do what you are capable and competent and practiced at doing…

And so when a teacher or parent or caregiver sees misbehaviour- they resist the impulse to punish and instead think about how to teach alternatives, practice new ways, strengthen skills, and repeat so often that this becomes fluent for the person.

That’s our dream.

What’s yours??

Most IEP or EHCP goals, objectives and outcomes are vague nonsense conveying some generic sense of ambiguous progress.

Tis obviously better to have actually SMART, actually meaningful and socially significant targets.

So instead of “Jonny will reach his full potential” or “Jonny will be better at literacy” or “Jonny will acquire sense of good self esteem”

It would be nice to have real targets- “Jonny will have a part or full time job”
Or
“Jonny will be able to read at least 1000 different words”

And maybe, one day, a target or outcome will state-

“Jonny will exist in a state of eudaimonia for at least 80% of his day- self reporting or being observed as happy, healthy and flourishing. Engaged in work, rest or play that is meaningful, functional, fun or nourishing”

What word or target would YOU want to put on an IEP or EHCP??

Do you “have” anxiety? Or are you anxious?

Do you “do” anxiety? Or is it your personality, preference, star sign or predilection?

Is anxiety a real thing in and of itself? Or a cluster of behaviours in response to environmental triggers that we label as “anxiety”…

Is anxiety an emotion or logical state?

Does any of this matter?

What is clear is that anxiety is pervasive and talked about as a thing.

But whatever it is- Alan Watts has some wise words to help change your point of view.

May it help you navigate the day today.

The quick and easy protocol for teaching (or parenting, caring, coaching, mentoring, educating, training etc) is correction.

Pointing out the errors. Saying No. indicating missteps. Setting boundaries. Providing feedback. Offering advice. Prompting the right response.

The slow and elegant protocol for teaching (or parenting, caring, coaching, mentoring, educating, training etc) is encouragement.

Shaping. Nurturing. Saying-Yes. Nearly. Almost. Keep going. Try again. You got this. We can do hard things. Shaping. Consoling.

What’s YOUR favourite quote that captures the essence of the approach you want to practice in this world?

This week in Social Detectives- we did detecting as the skill of the day.

Detecting with our senses.

Detecting with our brains.

Detecting truths and lies.

Next week we are going to go DEEP in respect of the questions you might ask.

Questions. Follow up questions. These are super powered language units that can help you access the whole world…

Gotta love the power and function of questions to open up new perspectives, processes and POVs…

Do YOU teach kids to ask questions? How do you do that? Why do you teach children to ask? What’s the best way to nurture that skill?

Comment below! We’d like to hear from you.

Acceptance.

Committed values based actions.

Accepting the things you cannot change.

Finding the strength to change the things you can.

Having wisdom to know the difference.

This bird proverb elegantly captures essential elements of ACT…

A contextual, behavioural scientific approach to being human.

May it’s wisdom remind you of the reality of stress, worry and care… but that these are not enmeshed and embedded are fixtures of fashion on (or in) your head.

We’ve been running another course of SD (social detectives)…

It’s always been about building social competency, crafting connections and having fun…

What’s the best kind of ship to own?

A friendship…

Here’s what a group of detectives were able to identify as key elements of being a friend.

Reflective practice is so valuable… really thinking about how you want to show up in on this day, for this week… in your life.

This quote captures a spirit of contribution rather than criticism.

We aren’t sure how everyone conducts themselves.

But it’s fairly easy to find examples of folks who are full of criticism about how to teach; how this way of approaching profound autism is wrong headed; how identify should or shouldn’t be used; how teaching children with autism is akin to abuse and acceptance is all you need.

They might be right.

But.

They might be wrong.

The debate is important and interesting. But if we allocating hours in our limited lives- then we are going with Brene Browns outcome measure.

We recently had a twilight training session here amongst the TLC team and folks shared readings and inspiring words that were shaping their thinking.

One of our super-star RBT, TAG group running, ACT practitioner, long-serving staff Kara shared the following message about daring greatly.

It’s as good a quote as any for fortifying oneself to the critics who don’t count and the “do nothing, teach nothing” folks who are out there.

May you read this and be comforted, engorged or inspired to actually try and make yourself or this world a better place. To strive. To be enthusiastic. To be vulnerable. To be that strong.

Steering clear of timid or cold souls who snipe and sneer.

What’s YOUR go to quote for finding strength, solace or spirit?