Our Team
I’m Rebecca Hurst and I’m a Supervisor at Vision Beyond Autism, developing programmes for the school and 19+ model. My role includes staff training as well as developing curriculums for: home, transitions from school to college, inclusion in work experience and leisure activities.
I have worked in the field of applied behaviour analysis (ABA) since 2012, working with both children and adults in education, community and workplace settings. I have an MSc in ABA from Bangor University and an MA in Psychology from California State University Stanislaus. I completed my Masters in ABA through the Atlantis student exchange programme where I had the opportunity to study in Wales, Poland and California for a two-year period. I am also a Board-Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA).
Whilst in the US, I took part in an externship where I worked with a number of leading behaviour analysts in an ABA centre; here I gained clinical experience and also worked as a 1:1 tutor.
In the UK I continued working in the field of ABA on home programmes and as a school shadow in nurseries. I then worked in a primary school for a number of years, implementing ABA in both the resource provision and in the mainstream classrooms, working closely with the teachers and other professionals. During this time, I ran social skills, SALT and OT sessions and collaborated on numerous IEPs and behaviour support plans.
Marianne currently supports the senior clinical team at Vision Beyond Autism, providing clinical and BACB supervision, and consults individually to each person receiving support within Vision Beyond Autism as well as providing regular training to the staff teams.
Marianne has been working in the field of ABA and autism for over 20 years. Marianne has worked with clients of all ages and abilities, consulting with over 100 children and adults with autism between the ages of 12 months and 85 years.
She sat the BCaBA exam in 2005 and was amongst one of the first to get certified in the UK. Marianne worked as an independent ABA practitioner for 10 years and completed the MSc ABA in Bangor in 2008 before passing the BCBA exam in 2010. Marianne spent the first eight years of her career working with children and in 2007 joined a large residential organisation that specialises in supporting adults who engage in challenging behaviour using a positive behaviour support approach. She then joined Dimensions in 2010, providing clinical support for supported living services around the country and setting up supported living placements to bring people who were living away from their communities closer to home. This role involved completing assessments, training teams and providing ongoing clinical support with the goal of increasing skills and improving quality of life.
Marianne currently leads the external autism behaviour consultancy service and manages a team of seven ABA staff as well as running Roots Autism Consultancy. Marianne is competent in assessment, delivering skills teaching and interventions to reduce barriers to learning and social inclusion. Marianne provides clinical supervision to other professionals and supervision to those gaining experience towards the BCBA exam.
Marianne was a founding member of the #PBSchat group on social media that won a BILD special award for spreading understanding of ABA in 2014. She was a member of the steering group for ABAF and Focus Liverpool, setting up and providing clinical support for the initial Focus Liverpool Saturday School cohorts throughout 2015, and has developed Blue Stars with a group of colleagues, a voluntary group that provides ABA playgroups and a Saturday School for children with autism in the Midlands.
Her interests include: driving up quality and competence in ‘positive behaviour support’, increasing communication skills for individuals with autism and increasing access to ABA using flexible and adaptable models pf provision.
Marianne has attended training courses in a variety of approaches including: PECS, TEACCH, TalkTools, Signalong, positive behavior support, ESDM, PRT, PEAK, SCERTS, AIM, attention autism, colourful semantics and SOSAFE. Marianne has supported many families through the statementing and SENDIST processes including attendance at tribunal.
Marianne provides consultancy to families running ABA interventions in the UK and also provides consultation and training for schools, residential placement and individuals engaging in challenging behaviour. She also provides professional supervision to students gaining clinical experience to sit the Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) exam.
She has presented at the following conferences:
• Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Group UK Conference, London, April 2013.
• Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Group UK Conference, London, April 2015.
• The Autism Show 2015, Birmingham
Publications:
• Dovey T. M., Bond Wooldridge M., Martin, C. I., & Southall A. (2013). The importance of detailed assessment in tube weaning, lessons from a complex case. Infant, child & adolescent nutrition, 5 (5), 298-305.
Conference Posters:
• Behaviour Change in France: An example of the application of Applied Behaviour Analysis to improve quality of life for persons with autism and their families in Limousin. Guy Martell MSc ABA, Dr Sandy Toogood BCBA D, & Marianne Bond Wooldridge BCBA. Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Group UK Conference Poster Presentation, London, April 2013.
• Changing the perception of ABA in practice: Meeting the demand & achieving meaningful outcomes with limited resources. Marianne Bond Wooldridge, BCBA, Autism Behaviour Consultancy by Dimensions. Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Group UK Conference Poster Presentation, London, April 2015.