Director & UKBA(cert)/BCBA
Brief info
Rianna is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst and has over 16 years experience working with children with a variety of diagnoses, including Autism and other special educational needs.
From the age of 16, she worked weekends and school holidays to provide respite care for children with additional needs. In particular, supporting at a holiday club for years which she then went on to run after graduating from university in 2013.
Rianna knew at this point that working in this field was the path she wanted to follow so she started working at an SEMH residential home for children and young adults. She learnt a great deal from this experience but after researching training opportunities and the best approaches out there to make meaningful change for these young people, she stumbled across Applied Behaviour Analysis and was instantly hooked.
In 2014 she began working at an SEN school within a department for children with more complex needs and communication impairments, that specialised in using ABA approaches to learning. Initially, this work was in the role of a 1:1 tutor for children aged 4-18 years old, implementing a wide variety of programmes and behaviour support plans.
She soon progressed through the roles to the position of VB Consultant after graduating with a Masters distinction in Applied Behaviour Analysis in 2017, then completing supervision hours and passing her Board exam in May 2018 to be qualified as a BCBA.
She has experience in a number of fields, including but not limited to: conducting a variety of developmental, functional and behavioural assessments; designing, overseeing and adapting programmes and behaviour support plans to ensure progress and challenging behaviour barriers are effectively reduced; writing, advising on and chairing EHCPs; and attending and hosting meetings such as CINs, LACs and professionals meetings. Her favourite aspect of the role, however, has been facilitating parent tea & coffee mornings and training workshops; watching parents connect through shared, lived experiences and empowering them with tools to take home to continue supporting their children was very rewarding!
In 2019, she was offered the opportunity to cover maternity leave for a year and work as a lecturer for University of Kent, Tizard Centre on their Masters courses in Applied Behaviour Analysis and Positive Behaviour Support. She worked alongside a range of professionals with extensive experience in the fields of ABA and PBS and came away with a far more in depth knowledge of person-centred approaches and how best to support those with complex needs and challenging behaviour.
Since this, she has continued her work as consultant but has kept these invaluable links and has been working collaboratively on creating research into best practice. Most recently, specialising in approaches to teach crucial joint attention skills to those with a diagnosis of Autism.
In her home life, Rianna, her husband and young daughter support children with disabilities through a respite foster care scheme whereby children and young people stay for weekends and short breaks. She works closely with social services to ensure care plans meet the needs of these individuals and their families and she hopes to be able to offer further training and support to other foster carers in the future.
Rianna’s passion lies in disseminating the science behind ABA and working in a multidisciplinary approach to ensure the best possible outcomes for each individual, their family and the wider community as a whole.