Chair: Catherine Carroll PhD - Senior Lecturer (MA Education) at Institute of Education, St Mary's University Expand Dr Catherine Carroll is Senior Lecturer in Education at St Mary's University in Middlesex. She has over twenty five years of teaching and research experience in schools and higher education; lecturing in education and psychology. Her research has been published in international peer reviewed journals and professional publications. Her specific research interests include; autism, special educational needs, inclusion, the education of children in care and knowledge exchange between researchers and practitioners.
Sarah Butcher - Director of Residential Care Services at Prior's Court Expand Sarah has more than twenty-nine years’ experience in residential social work working with children and adults with autism, severe learning difficulties and complex needs. She is an Advanced Consultant TEACCH Trainer and was instrumental in developing the specialist approach which underpins the autism best practice at Prior’s Court. Sarah has spoken at international conferences in both America and China. She is a member of the national social care advisory board of the UK government inspection agency, Ofsted. In 2018 Sarah was awarded the honour of MBE by her Majesty the Queen for services to children with special educational needs.
Michelle Collard - Project and Research Lead at Prior's Court Expand Michelle has a Masters degree in Autism Studies from the Tizard Centre, she has undertaken research exploring social networks and community inclusion of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and the impact of Positive Behaviour Support training upon staff’s beliefs, values and attitudes and organisational implementation.
Joanne Humphries - Managing Project Consultant in the Health Science Global Business Unit for Oracle / Parent of Young Person at Prior’s Court Expand Joanne is a parent of a young person at Prior's Court. She has a BSC in Computer Science, and a Masters in BioInformatics with Systems Biology. Part of Joanne’s studies involved genetics research related to autism. Professionally Joanne is an IT Project Manager working in the Life Sciences industry. Previous to working in Life Sciences, Joanne has worked in Research Management IT Software. Joanne is interested in all research that supports better life outcomes for young people with autism and helps facilitate more involvement of the most severely affected in the participation of such research.
Paul Kemp - Director of the International Centre for Ecohydraulics Research at Southampton University / Parent of Young Person at Prior’s Court Expand Paul sits on the board as a parent of a young person at Prior’s Court with an interest in ensuring parents viewpoints are considered. As a Professor at the University of Southampton he has many years of experience in diverse research portfolios acting as the Director of Research in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, and is particularly interested in Interdisciplinarity.
Fiona Knott - Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Prior’s Court / Associate Professor and the Clinical Director at the Centre for Autism at the University of Reading Expand Fiona is a clinical psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of Reading. Her research interests have three main strands: development and treatment of anxiety problems in children with autism, employability and autism and attitudes to autism.
Sue Piper - Director of Education and Life Long Learning at Prior's Court Expand As part of the various areas Sue has studied, there has always been a requirement to research an area and demonstrate that the results have an impact. Currently Sue is most interested in all the areas that directly impact the young people at the complex end of the autism spectrum. With her background in TEACCH Sue is always keen to look at what young people learn and how they learn best. Sue is a member of the PLASN-R research board which provides her with another link to similar schools and UCL and enables her to stay up to date with current research areas.
Nora Richards - Autism Practitioner Education at Prior’s Court Expand A qualified teacher, Norah works at Prior’s Court as an autism practitioner supporting the Speech and Language Therapy team. Norah completed her MSc dissertation at Prior’s Court, exploring an innovative method for eliciting pupil voice. Ten young people participated in this pilot study. Norah hopes to extend her findings into a PhD, exploring emotions and language in young people with autism and complex needs.
Mike Robinson - Chief Executive at Prior's Court Expand Mike is the CEO of Prior’s Court. Prior to this he was managing director of a group of special educational needs schools in the UK and has been involved in the development of autism services in the Middle East.
Karen Russell - Speciality Doctor in Community Paediatrics for Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust / Parent of Young Person at Prior’s Court Expand Karen is a parent of a young person at Prior’s Court, and passionate for supporting research studies exploring individuals with severe autism and complex needs, to increase the limited knowledge and understanding. Professionally she specialises in diagnosing neurodevelopmental conditions in children, where she relies on evidence base to inform her medical decisions, and regularly attends training courses and conferences to keep well-informed of current research.
Catherine Tissot - Professor of Education and Special Needs at the University of Reading / Prior's Court Trustee Expand Catherine Tissot is a Professor in Special Educational Needs at the Institute of Education, University of Reading. Her recent research and support for doctoral students has focused on autism, sexual identity and educating trainee teachers about disabilities and mainstream practice.
Claudio Vilella Moreno - Class Teacher at Prior’s Court Expand A Special needs Teacher from Prior’s Court, Claudio is always keen to find different ways to give young people with autism the best wellbeing and health life they can have. One of Claudio's passions is drama as people with autism who take part in drama and performance activities may be able to improve their communication and interpersonal skills.