Buckinghamshire Intensive Interaction Regional Support Group
12th December 2012
Present: Nassrin Saeedi (REACH), Allison Jack (REACH), Jules McKim (Ridgeway
Partnership).
Allison and Nassrin gave an update of the use of Intensive Interaction within
REACH’s services. They use the Dave Hewett DVD for staff training – it is circulated
around the homes. The autism awarenesss training provided by Talk Back touches on
aspects of Intensive Interaction.
They support a gentleman in Aylesbury who has recently moved into a group home.
Mirroring aspects of his behaviour has proved to be very effective. Since being
supported here he doesn’t wander much and incidences of challenging behaviour have
reduced. Building on positives as opposed to managing negatives has been possible
largely due to a change of environment and change of staff team. He now has more
positive interactions with other residents and staff. A more formal Intensive
Interaction approach was discussed and planned, in order to build on the good
relationships that have developed.
At Sistine Manor, Intensive Interaction is being used for three people and the
frequency of the sessions has been maintained. The form-filling has been maintained
and is proving to be useful in monitoring progress and developments.
Jules talked about the progress within Ridgeway Partnership. In one area of the Social
Care Division all session sheets were collected for the quarter July – September. This
has provided a useful baseline of where services are with respect to record-keeping. It
shows some encouraging progress as well as highlighting areas of further input
required. Some forms show that people are having good interactions but that there are
very brief and they are happening as part of the normal routine – they are not
structured Intensive Interaction sessions. They could be viewed as greetings rather
than conversations. Further training is planned.
Jules filled people in with national news:
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Conference is in Leeds on 12th March 2012 and is titled “The Management of
Intensive Interaction in Educational and Residential Services.”
The Facebook group (Intensive Interaction users) has now got over 800
members.
Two new books available from Amazon – The Intensive Interaction
Handbook; Intensive Interaction – Theoretical Perspectives.
Nassrin mentioned the Care Fund Calculator, as used by commissioners, and pointed
out that there are no questions on engagement. It is therefore not seen as a priority by
some.
Jules showed a video of an interaction, stressing that interesting things began to
happen after 5 minutes, whereas informal sessions often end at 3 minutes. With the
person shown, we will need to be careful not to “make him laugh.” Although that is
fun, it is not two-way communication. There is a need here to build in pauses to allow
him to respond, in his own time.
Next meeting: Check website for details www.intensiveinteraction.co.uk