❝The National Autistic Society Accreditation process enabled us to learn the skills of good autism practice and active support over the years.❞

Marcus and Marcus Ltd has been providing personalised support packages to enable autistic adults and adults with learning disabilities to live a fulfilling life within the community. They have worked with our Accreditation team for over 15 years!

Why did you register for the Autism Specialist Award?

We registered with the Autism Accreditation programme around 2009 because we wanted to implement good autism practice and promote the skill development of the autistic people we support. We believe that by aligning our practices with the National Autistic Society standards, we can ensure that our services are truly person-centred and effective in meeting the needs of everyone.

The Accreditation process has provided a framework for continuous improvement and helped us stay up to date with the latest research and best practices in the field of autism.

How did the programme support you with reflecting and developing your service?

The overall benefits and strengths of the program are its ability to eliminate poor or challenging practices while providing clear direction and guidance. The process offers valuable critical feedback and validation, ensuring transparency in our operations. The framework supports us in a structured and directed manner to implement good autism practice. It provides opportunities for self-reflection, which is essential for continuous
improvement.

In one reflection workshop, we identified that our staff induction was not robust enough to ensure a gold standard induction pathway for new frontline staff. As a result, we developed a comprehensive induction pathway, ensuring staff are well-trained and equipped to provide best practice.

To regularly monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of our services, we developed a comprehensive audit tool for our practice. This tool allows us to identify areas for further improvement.

What impact has this had on autistic people and their families?

We believe this accreditation holds immense significance for autistic people and their families. It signifies that they will receive the right support from a well-trained and skilled wider support network, feeling truly valued and recognised. Furthermore, the accreditation demonstrates our increased expertise in supporting autistic people, ensuring our services are person-centred and effective in meeting individual needs.

Since joining the programme we have developed tailored and smooth transition processes for our service in various settings, including assessment and treatment centres, other care providers and family homes.

We developed a system to analyse and understand the reasons behind the behaviour, which enables us to create effective, individualised support strategies. We use a Positive Behaviour Support approach and longitudinal tracking to monitor the effectiveness of the interventions. We embedded a culture of communicating any changes proactively to the autistic individuals we support.

❝Our consultant is very thorough and realistic in their approach. They are very knowledgeable in good autism practice and understands our service very well. They enable us to reflect and think of realistic progression from our current practice. Their feedback has always been very constructive, which greatly helps us with our development.❞

- Tamzil Chowdury, PBS Team Manager

How has gaining the award benefited your service?

The accreditation has provided recognition and validation, which helps us to make continuous improvements to our services.

Most importantly, it promotes skill development for the autistic people we support. Our service has consistently received commendations from the National Autistic Society for various aspects of our practice. These include ensuring a tailored transition, making sense of challenging behaviours, implementing a new staff induction programme, conducting frontline practice audits, managing change effectively, promoting self-reflection and facilitating skill development.

Autism Specialist Award

This award is tailored to specialist providers in the education, social care and prison fields.

Find out about the Autism Specialist Award

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