Latest News
December 2011
During the last year we have been preparing to become a “Community Interest Company” (CIC), which is a relatively new type of company. Community Interest Companies are limited companies, with special additional features, created for the use of people who want to conduct a business or other activity for community benefit, and not purely for private advantage. This is achieved by a "community interest test" and "asset lock", which ensure that the CIC is established for community purposes and the assets and profits are dedicated to these purposes.
Registration of a company as a CIC has to be approved by the Regulator who also has a continuing monitoring and enforcement role. We are very pleased to announce that our application was successful and we are now a CIC.
The work we carry out at UKYAP is better suited to being a CIC and it has been functioning in this way throughout the life of the company. In addition we now have a staff that is qualified and experienced to be able to apply behaviour analysis in a wider sense. The name of the CIC is UK Behaviour Analysis and Research Group C.I.C. UK Young Autism Project is now a division of UK Behaviour Analysis and Research Group. The change to the company does not affect our services, research or training within UKYAP.
April 2011
UK ABA Education Competencies Framework
UK Young Autism Project has been directly involved in the creation of the UK ABA Education Competencies Framework. This was created to clearly outline competencies required by those working in the field of ABA and autism.
You can download the framework on our Careers page.
March 2011
Special Educational Needs and Disability Green Paper
The government have launched a Green Paper on special educational needs and disability. It is entited, Support and Aspiration: A New Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability.
The paper is currently out for consultation and we would advise that all parents take time to look through the paper. This is available to download from the Department for Education website. This also gives details as to how you can submit your response to the paper. The deadline for submitting responses is 30th June 2011.
Press Release - 30th March, 2010
Remarkable results for autism treatment
Treatment for children with autism as young as two years old can dramatically improve their IQ and life skills within just one year, a new scientific study reveals today.
Groundbreaking research by experts at the London and Birmingham based UK Young Autism Project reports significant improvements in intellectual ability, language and social skills for youngsters receiving intensive treatment of 36 hours per week for a full 12 month period.
The study, involved following the progress of 44 children, aged between two and three and a half years old, undertaking an applied behaviour analysis (ABA) programme with a comprehensive teaching curriculum, a controversial programme originally devised by Dr O. Ivar Lovaas at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Between the ten girls and 34 boys, after a year of treatment, IQ of the group increased by an average 16 points. In many cases children who were unable to speak and comprehend very little at all developed the language skills exceeding those of a two year old (i.e. a two year increase in language skills within 12 months.) Significant increases were also seen in communication, daily living, socialisation and motor skills as measured by the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales.
Autism is a debilitating condition, characterised by severe impairment in social interaction and communication combined with highly rigid, ritualistic behaviour. Within the UK alone up to four out of every thousand people are sufferers and the diagnosis is increasing.
UK Young Autism Project is part of the UCLA Multi-Site Young Autism Project directed by Dr O. Ivar Lovaas (who originally developed the programme) and Dr. Tristram Smith. The directors of UK Young Autism Project are Dr Svein Eikeseth (Professor), Ms Diane Hayward and Miss Catherine Gale. Today, launching the research, Ms Hayward and Miss Gale described the findings as hugely important in the field of helping all people with autism and their families: “With the right approach and supervision, there is hope out there,” Miss Gale said.
UK Young Autism Project which has been established since 2000, carried out a variety of psychological tests on each child before the treatment year began and afterwards including the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, WPPSI-R, Reynell Developmental Language Scales, Merrill Palmer Scales of Mental Tests, and Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales.
Miss Gale explained why the new findings are significant: “Our study is unique because it proves that dramatic progress can be made in just one year, provided the right components are in place. Crucially this requires high levels of supervision from correctly trained professionals and the correct amount of hours per week. The child needs to be taught in their own home, but also learn from experiencing the environment around them, including when appropriate attending nursery and later mainstream school, albeit with trained support. Every learning programme needs to be individually designed around the child’s difficulties but also foster their strengths and talents. The parents have to be trained and involved. It isn’t easy, and not suitable for every family. But with all the right ingredients, the long term prognosis is highly positive. No other work on autism in the UK has produced such improvements within only one year.”
Ms Hayward stressed however that this is not a one year cure for autism.
“This is not a miracle cure. What we are demonstrating with this research is how much progress can be made in a short period of time. Most children and people with autism do need some ongoing support, which changes as they get older. But if we can give them this programme and adapt to their needs and progress we can give these children and young adults a much improved chance of a happy, independent life in the long term. This is ultimately more cost effective than losing them in the state system and them needing lifelong care packages.”
The Directors of UKYAP criticised many education authorities who committed to a two year basic ABA programme, without checking that the requisite components identified through research, including high levels of training and monitoring, were in place. Too many authorities have then abandoned the work when the two years are complete.
Ms Hayward said: “There are cases where two years of treatment in the pre-school years is enough and the child can then function and learn independently, but they are rare. It is far more common for this to be a longer term commitment, with the child becoming increasingly independent and typically happier. The level of intensity and number of hours and learning support decreases accordingly. So yes ABA is an expensive option and needs to go on for more years than often practised. But the end result is extremely cost effective, because many achieve independent living while others can stay with their families instead of being institutionalised.”
She added: “To take a child whose parents have been told they will never be toilet trained, speak or cope in the world and enable them to achieve these skills is a privilege. Every person with autism and their families deserves access to this treatment. But it must be done properly and it would be worthwhile for funders to commit to that.”
UK Young Autism Project’s long term follow up data will be reported together with data from sister sites across the world, who collaboratively found substantial and significant gains for children after three or four years of treatment, with all of the sites running quality controlled programmes with carefully monitored treatment variables and benefitting from a wide group of experts in the field.