A behavioural therapist is hoping to set up an early behaviour intervention centre, the first of its kind in Scotland, to help autistic children in Dundee and Angus.
Suzie Repova, 39, is taking her proposal to the Scottish Government next week in the hope of paving the way for establishing a centre for families, carers and professionals to help children in their care.
At a training session in Forfar she explained Scotland was lagging behind England and Wales in the field of behavioural therapy for children.
She said: “In Scotland there is a group in Bridge of Allan which looks at pivotal response treatment, what I am doing is based on applied behavioural analysis, or ABA.
“We teach new skills which can prevent challenging behaviour at early stages.
“We are doing a few different projects including theory training for parents and professionals.
“There is very little support for parents at the moment.”
Suzie explained early understanding is virtually non-existent in Scotland but is crucial in helping a child develop.
She continued: “NHS guidelines recognise ABA but it has not been actively supported or encouraged yet.”
A trained social worker and therapist, Suzie has been a chair of a Children’s Panel where she was inspired by the life stories of children.
She has been a foster carer to a boy who has autism and has worked with children on the autistic spectrum and other disabilities since 2007.
Her interest in ABA grew when she worked as self-employed behavioural therapist in Edinburgh and Lothian.
She completed a post graduate course in autism and learning at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and studied to become a registered behaviour technician at the University of Belfast.
Suzie is now keen to bring people together, forming partnerships with families and professionals to make a positive, enduring difference to the lives of many children.
She continued: “I have a meeting with the leaders from autism strategy at the Scottish Government next week to discuss how we can take this forward.
“Unfortunately, Scotland is lagging about 30 years behind in research compared to what other countries are doing.
“In England and Wales they have schools, early intervention centres, local authority support and parents can ask for extra provision — and mostly they get it.
“In Slovakia there are intervention centres for families where they can get ABA. There is nothing like this in Scotland.
“Early behavioural intervention starts as soon as 18 months in the sense of teaching new skills.
“As a child, if you constantly feel a failure because you don’t have the skills, you don’t know how to do things, it leads to exclusion, you can’t have relationships and you don’t have communication skills to help you express your emotions which will impact on mental health.
“Statistics show young people with autism are nine times more likely to commit suicide. It is really bad.”
Suzie is hosting a conference at the Steeple Church in Dundee in September and is hoping to work with councils in Dundee and Angus to set up a centre in the area.
She will also run intensive courses working with families for three weeks in September, where parents are trained how to work with their child.
She concluded: “If that proves it works we can scale it up, start training therapists and have our own centre – the first early intervention centre in Scotland — to help parents understand and encourage children to grow to be as happy and as independent as possible.”
