Clinical psychologist and creator of the Secret Agent Society (SAS) program Dr Renae Beaumont will host practitioner training in Auckland on September 10 and 11, 2012. 

SAS is an ideal social skills intervention for educators, therapists and other professionals who work with children with high-functioning Autism Spectrum Conditions such as Asperger's Syndrome.  It typically includes 12 weekly child and parent group meetings, a four-level computer game, teacher tip sheets and booster sessions. SAS can be adapted for school settings, community centres and private clinics. 

This highly engaging, espionage-themed program is attracting increasing international attention following a randomised, controlled trial at the University of Queensland. The trial showed 76 per cent of children who did the program improved from having clinically significant social skill delays to showing skills within the range of most children.  This is currently the most clinically significant change published in the world for a social skills program with children with high-functioning Autism. 

The two-day training course includes didactic and multimedia presentations, live session footage, group discussions, opportunities to practise delivering content and follow-up supervision.  

Registrations close August 6. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to register or download application documents from http://www.sst-institute.net/nz/professionals/practitioner-training/ 

"This program is a great resource for clinicians, teachers and families.  It provides the skills and resources needed to fully engage children on the autism spectrum – and make learning fun!  I highly recommend the Secret Agent Society program as the resources are innovative, well targeted and can make a big difference to how children on the spectrum manage their home and school life."      

Dr Tony Attwood, International expert on Asperger's Syndrome

We started in 1997 with no funds or resources – other than a belief that getting good information and support to those who needed it would result in better lives. 

Our vision when we started was (and still is) that children and adults with severe learning disabilities, whose behaviour is described as challenging,  have the same life opportunities as everyone else. Our ultimate goal is that there is no need for a CBF to campaign for this, because it happens. 

Our Trustees have remained determined to focus our work specifically on children and adults with severe learning disabilities and challenging behaviour and their families, as these individuals and their families are often isolated, marginalised and excluded.  This clear focus ensures that we are able to concentrate on the issues for this client group – and our approach has been that if we are able to get it right for these children, adults and families, we will be putting things in place that ensure that we also get it right for others. Person centred approaches to support for people with complex needs will deliver better outcomes at every level. 

Working in partnership is a core CBF value and we work closely with other organisations in the learning disability field, to ensure we are co-ordinated and avoid duplication. In fact, in the past 15 years we have been able to build some great relationships with all the key stakeholders in the sector. We take a strategic approach and aim to be a key player in influencing and practice - we launched the challenging behaviour national strategy group (CB-NSG) in 2008 as a vehicle for a broad spectrum of stakeholders with an interest in challenging behaviour to work together.

The CB-NSG now has almost 150 members from children and adults services and across education, social care and health. It includes clinicians, other voluntary sector organisations, people with learning disabilities and families, regulators and researchers. The strategy group has worked on a number of high profile projects, has jointly produced resources and influenced Government and other stakeholders on issues around challenging behaviour.

The CBF was founded by a family carer, and families are at the heart of all our work. Our information service has expanded and developed and we are now able to provide a range of resources including information sheets, DVDs, newsletters, training courses and individual telephone support  (all free for families). Since 1997 we have helped numerous families who have found themselves isolated and lacking in information at key times of their child's lives. Even without advertising at the beginning we were receiving enquiries from families who were in need of support.

Our family support work during the last 15 years has grown to meet demand – and these family experiences enable our national influencing work to be informed and based on real life experiences. The combination of this bottom up and top down approach is more likely to enable us to achieve good outcomes for more individuals and their families. Our vision of not needing to exist remains, but so many families and individuals still in need of our support and intervention means that it is not likely to be achieved just yet. 

Visit: http://www.challengingbehaviour.org.uk/

Child and Youth Services are part of Disability Services in the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion (DCSI) in South Australia.  They provide services for children and young people with disabilities and their families in both metropolitan and country areas.

Support includes an Early Childhood program for children from birth to school entry and the School Age and Youth Program for school-age children and young people.  The services provided by Child and Youth Services teams help many children and young people and their families in South Australia.

The programs provide early intervention services to support children with significant developmental delays or conditions associated with intellectual disability.  Services for school-age children and young people with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder and their families are also available.  These services are provided until the young person transitions from school into post-school options.

Child and Youth Services Director, Karen McAuley, says that the 'Team Around the Child' (TAC) approach is something that will add great value to the programs and services provided by Child and Youth Services.  We are really interested in the TAC approach and are keen to hear about the experiences of other agencies using it.  We are particularly interested in hearing about where TAC has been used in a multi-agency approach across school-age teams.  Information on staff training and the key work model would be helpful.

If you have experience with the TAC approach and are willing to share your insights with the Child and Youth Services team in South Australia, contact Libby Cregeen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.