CHRIS BARSON
Chris Barson founded Positive About Autism in January 2009. Prior to that Chris was External Training Manager for the National Autistic Society. Chris has a long involvement with disability and autism. After studying drama at the Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff he started out as a drama tutor with Arts for Disabled People in Wales. Chris trained as a learning disabilities Nurse at University Hospital Wales. After qualifying Chris became a Community Nurse for people with learning disabilities. Moving from Community Nursing into a specialist setting, Chris gained experience in intensive support for people who present a severe challenge to services. Chris first joined the National Autistic Society (NAS) in 1996 as a Project Officer in Wales on a Children in Need project reviewing short term care provision. After working with the NAS Regional Development Team promoting service development throughout the UK.
Chris went to work at the Royal College of General Practitioners, in 2000, where he managed Professional Development and Quality programmes. Chris rejoined NAS in 2004.Chris has contributed to the design and delivery of courses provided by Canterbury Christ Church University, and University of Cumbria. Chris is a contributing author to ‘The Autism Spectrum in the 21st Century:Exploring Psychology, Biology and Practice’ Jessica Kingsley Press 2010 (Highly Commended 2011 BMA Medical Book Awards) 
MIKE MOOREMike Moore has over 25 years’ experience managing complex and fast-moving IT projects in a variety of industry sectors including retail services, healthcare, food production, pharmaceutical, materials distribution and automotive.
The underlying principle of making the complex clear informs all of Mike’s work from coaching and mentoring to application scoping and design. He prides himself on his ability to take complex concepts and to simplify them for a non-specialist audience, as a result he is in demand as a speaker where he often lectures on project troubleshooting and governance. He is also an accredited Mediator specialising in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the commercial contracts arena. Mike’s customers vouch for his first-class communication skills, creativity and boundless enthusiasm which make working alongside him both profitable and enjoyable. |
HAZEL RATCLIFFE
Hazel Ratcliffe is Director of Ratcliffe Consultancy and has worked in social and health care for over twenty-five years as a Qualified Nurse, Psychotherapist & Social Worker. She has been involved in working with most client groups, but more intensively with people with Learning Disabilities, Mental health & Dementia. With a reputation for delivering exceptional training and coaching aimed at she has created a number of innovative training packages which are person centred in their thinking, and are designed to encourage exploration and creative participation.
She gently challenges delegate to reflect on their practice whilst encouraging them to believe that they can make a difference. She is committed to providing training, consultancy and support that is relevant to the individual or organisation and strives for excellence. GREG PASCODr Greg Pasco is a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the Birkbeck College, University of London, Babylab. Since 2010 he has worked on the British Autism Study of Infant Siblings (BASIS) a longitudinal prospective study of children with older siblings and/or parents with autism and/or ADHD, overseeing the assessment and differential diagnosis of study participants. He initially trained as a speech & language therapist and has spent over three decades working with autistic children and adults and their family members in various roles and organisations. He has trained, taught and mentored many clinicians and researchers in relation to knowledge and understanding of autism, treatments and interventions and assessment and diagnosis.
Greg was trained to administer the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule - Generic (ADOS-G) whilst working as a researcher on the International Molecular Genetics Study of Autism in the early 2000's and soon became an accredited ADOS trainer. Since then he has used the ADOS-G and ADOS-2 in clinical diagnostic settings and in multiple research studies. He has delivered ADOS training to researchers and clinicians from around the World, including Britain, Ireland, Europe, South America, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, Malaysia and Japan. ERICA SALOMONEDr Erica Salomone, a clinical psychologist by background, is Assistant Professor at the University of Milan Bicocca, Italy, lecturing on social and emotional development. As an ongoing technical advisor for the World Health Organization, she is currently working with international sites to develop practice guidelines and training materials to increase the identification, management, and treatment of children with developmental disabilities, including autism, in high as well as lower- and middle-income countries. Erica is Core Contributor of the novel intervention program ‘WHO Caregiver Skills Training Program for Families of Children with Developmental disorders or delays’. She has formerly worked on clinical trials for autism at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London and has lectured in Developmental Psychology and Behavioural Approaches in Autism Spectrum Disorders at the University of Turin, Italy.
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“The training received went down exceptionally well with the Childrens Radiology staff; it was pitched at just the right level for all those that attended be they clinical or non clinical and prompted much discussion for days after. Chris had obviously done his background research prior to speaking to my colleagues and I as he brought up real life situations that staff were able to relate to directly. All the staff have come away from this training session with an increased awareness of autism, which they have been actively putting in to practice whenever the need has arisen in there day to day working lives.
Thanks Chris and we look forward to meeting you again in the near future.”
Andrea Hulme
Lead General Radiographer