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ISAAC
 

Isaac was 3 years old when his Auntie called us: utterly desperate as the wait for a diagnosis was at least another year away and they kept being told to wait. She said that Mum couldn’t find anybody near to her and she simply couldn’t travel far because of Isaac’s challenges. We explained that we would come to her, booked a date and got started straight away. Isaac's autism challenged every single moment of his day and night. He had extreme sensitivity to nearly everything, no language, could not climb stairs and had no self help skills. He was sad all of the time and his lovely mum was exhausted.

 

Despite the exhaustion, his mum worked tirelessly with us for 12 full months. Lu saw her monthly and Belen and Lu both had remote contact in-between. That was 4 years ago and now Isaac has transitioned to a part time home programme and part time programme with our sister team: The Bridge Flexi School. His programme and his education is fully funded, fought for and won by Lu. Isaac now also has a best friend, Ben - also from The Bridge. He has his maths with Ben, English with Georgi, attends a forest school and has amazing adventures (mostly involving lots of animals) alongside his home programme. Isaac goes to parties, restaurants, supermarkets and everything else in-between. For the first year he could hardly leave the house but now he is great at conversation and getting better and better at it every week: his confidence has soared and he is an extremely funny little boy. His family now have lots of adventures and holidays and truly enjoy their life together. We do not quite know what the future holds for Isaac, but we know that it is a bright one.

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RICARDO
 

Ricardo was 15 when we first met him: he had been house bound for 18 months and his family were in discussions with the LA about having him sectioned. His isolation had gotten to a point that  he used a bedpan and had his meals delivered to his room. His family were desperate: their friend’s daughter had killed herself at a local unit whilst supposedly under 24 hour watch and they were petrified of losing their son. We worked very, very closely with Ricardo’s family for a full month before speaking with Ricardo: he did want help but he did not want help from anybody but his family.

 

His parents and brother did exactly what we recommended. Lu met them for walks, in their garden and then in their home when Ricardo knew she would be there. After a month one of Lu’s team, Belen, sat outside his door (with his permission of course) and got to know him. After three months of working together, Ricardo was out and about. After a year of working together, building skills again and confidence and family time, Ricardo started to be educated from home. Ricardo was very bright but very traumatised from school. He had missed years of education and had forms of undiagnosed OCD, anxiety and PDA which were crippling.

 

However, he achieved a whopping 9 GCSE’s in three years - all grades 8 and 9. Really quite staggering. Ricardo then started his A levels and, over three years, gained 2 A levels and held down a job he loved part time supporting other students. Ricardo is now at university and is a part of two student teams and extremely happy. Ricardo does still have challenges and we do still support him, so it hasn’t been a short or an easy journey for him or his family, but he is incredible and has a wonderfully rich life and future. We are especially close to Ricardo’s family and have a very close relationship with Ricardo, with all sorts of safeguards and plans in place for success at Uni and beyond.

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ALI
 

Well, Ali is an absolute champion. We are not sure who is more of a champion: her or her mum!  Ali’s mum came to see Lu for an initial chat about things that had been going on for Ali recently and leading up to what they referred to as a breakdown which brought her home from international college. She was 20. 

Ali had had a catastrophic episode resulting in her stopping talking, crying and screaming all day (and that is no exaggeration), attacking her family and not leaving the home. She was also not sleeping and engaging in other excessive behaviours. Ali’s parents were lost and devastated and her sister was scared and on the verge of moving out. Ali was on the verge of being sectioned. 
 

The following week Ali came to see Lu in Epsom with her Mum: she told Lu quite clearly that there is nothing Lu could do to help and that she simply wouldn’t be helped. She set Lu a challenge that Lu really couldn’t refuse! It was a tiring road for her family and they had extremely close contact with Lu but, two years later, Ali was enrolling in a university in the UK and living at home. After a year she moved in with uni friends, keeping in close contact with Lu and her team. Ali then went on to do a Masters and is now training to be a Behaviour Analyst and has worked with Lu on some early intervention cases. Ali is getting married next year. 
 

Ali’s nephew, Seth, is also now working with Lu and her team on an early intervention programme. He is 2. Seth is just about to be diagnosed with ASC but he is flying on his programme! Ali is his favourite therapist.

SOLOMON

Solomon is a gorgeous little boy who worked with NETwork Interventions for six months on a parent programme when he was 5 years old. After a period of assessment and working together, Solly began talking and starting early academics. He took a break for a year, just working with mum, and mum sent frequent updates. He has just returned to us for help with EHCP and a full programme. We can’t wait to watch his progress!
 

JONAH

Jonah was four years old when he came to us last year. He was in nursery and due to begin school in September. His family had major concerns due to a friends family member working at the nursery and telling them that, despite staff telling them that their son is doing well, he actually ‘walks around all day tapping walls in his own world’. The friend’s family member remarked when she bumped in to him at a park  that she had never heard his voice before. The family already had concerns and this cemented them.

 

They called our team in. As part of the first step we completed an in nursery observation as well as an in home observation. What we saw confirmed what the family suspected. Within a few days the family had begun an assessment period with us and had begun to put interventions in to place. Jonas’s baseline of cries per day and upsets was a staggering 288 on average. His sleep averaged 5 hours and he ate only 7 foods in total. He had zero requests and zero labels. The family chose not to send Jonah to school and instead to teach him themselves at home with a bit of juggling across parents and family. Lu put supports in to place for family with everybody having their own targets, including siblings, and also did some face to face every 2-3 weeks.

We were in touch nearly every day receiving and feeding back on little videos. By Christmas Jonah had 150 requests each day and his upsets were down to 8 per day. What a legend! The next three months layered in food and sleep support with him sleeping from 10 to 8 and eating lots of food he genuinely finds yummy. The family decided not to pursue school and with the EHCP Lu secured for them, he has a fully funded full time home and education programme beginning in September. The family say that the progress which has been most life changing for them is that he will now spend time with his Dad and siblings and they can go out as a family and that is better for them than anything else that could ever happen for them as they were so unhappy and worried.

GRACE

Grace was in her Mum’s tummy when her Mum came to us: she had been diagnosed with a rare chromosomal condition and prognosis was really poor. Her Mum was a therapist with Lu on a team a few years before and knew about Lu’s work with behavioural counselling with individuals, couples and families. She sought support for the journey she was embarking on. What a journey that has been!

Grace has defied ALL odds and is 9 years old now and working with Lu’s team therapeutically. As a baby, her Mum and Lu used ABA to teach Grace how to have motivations, to drink, then to eat. They developed a team to help Grace’s Mum help her to move as much as was possible and they advocated for her when her Mum was just too tired to. Every professional doubted Grace and when she went to school, although they were amazing, it was nothing more than babysitting. Grace was wheelchair bound and seemed to face every prejudice known to mankind.

Grace is 9 now and is learning to walk. She has lots of motivations and is using picture to speech software to communicate. Grace has many physical challenges making certain mobility and vocal control impossible but she is determined, funny and has a wild streak to her! Grace’s mum is the most determined mum we have ever met and together they make an awesome team. Grace has a fully funded programme (which was a big battle!) and continues to learn each and every day. Emotional regulation, social interaction, communication, behaviour support, family counselling and strategy, are all involved in Grace’s programme.

Academics are also very important to Grace. Being non vocal meant that school and the LA set Grace little real learning and she was frustrated (think head banging and body bashing, bruises and cuts) all day long. Grace has shown our team how much she knows and how much she wants to learn. She is truly hungry to learn and the cognitive deficits her NHS teams said she would have and has she really does not.

PETER

Peter was 11 when his mum phoned us. His school had said that they could no longer meet his needs, and whilst his family were waiting for a suitable placement, they kept Peter home. He had such low attendance that it made much more sense to remove the burden of the chaotic mornings for everybody. Peter had incredible language on the surface but struggled with almost every moment at school and would spend most of his evenings in a rage with his Mum and younger sister or completely on his own not talking.

 

Our first consultation was one full to the brim of crying. We spent 12 weeks getting to know Peter and developing a relationship with him and his family. At the end of those 12 weeks we had a firm handle on which language components were being used in the wrong place, making his world really wobbly. We spent 6 months working closely with Peter and his family: fortnightly face to face with Lu, some face to face from Rache and Emma in between and remote calls for further support.

 

At the end of the six months we fought for EOTAS for the family, and won: they are now living their best lives fully immersed in the home education community and Peter loves his learning, his friends and has found a love of climbing!
 

JOHN
 

John was a four year old boy whose professionals and families were pursuing a diagnosis of high functioning autism. John made no eye contact with his family or peers. Although he had speech, this was only used in a self stimulatory capacity and not with any communicative intent. John made no contact with peers at nursery and followed no instructions. His parents were unsure of whether he noticed when his family and siblings were present. John had worn the same pair of tracksuit bottoms for two years, with his mother taking them off whilst he was sleeping, washing them and putting them back on him during his sleep as his meltdowns without them were so harrowing. 
 

With just two consultations and weekly contact for six weeks, John was wearing new clothes, making eye contact and beginning to request. Within one term John was following all instructions at home and in school and conversing with peers. John’s family had quarterly visits from Louise over the next year and now is fully integrated in school entering year two in September. John has a group of good friends and is indistinguishable from his peers. He didn’t need a diagnosis in the end.

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JACK
 

​Jack is a six year old boy with a diagnosis of language delay. Jack had no friends, was unable to follow multiple step instructions at home or school and had at least one tantrum each day at home lasting over one hour. Jack asked no questions at school and only made simple requests at home. Jack’s mum contacted NETwork Interventions as school had told her that ‘although he had significant impairments they weren’t as bad as others’ so could not help. Rather than fighting for a new diagnosis or statement, Jack’s mum decided to concentrate on therapy. Two consultations later and one in school consultation, Jack has on average one tantrum a week lasting ten minutes. He is having successful play dates and is now asking and answering advanced WH questions both in and out of school. Jack and his family are still working and making progress with Louise.

 

NATHAN
 

Nathan is a six year old boy who had previously been on a traditional ABA programme since he was two years old. Nathan had lots of receptive skills and skills from the tacting (labeling) repertoire, however he still had no functional expressive communication skills and as a result had no friends, cried for an hour before school every day and often engaged in inappropriate attention seeking and escape behaviours. The first thing NETwork Interventions did was to remove all ITT programmes and teach him 100% in the natural environment. Within three months Nathan was requesting within sentences. One year later, Nathan has learned all academic and social skills rendering him indistinguishable from his peers at school. Nathan will repeat year one enabling him to make a new set of friends with no previous associations of his current peers and will not have a teaching aide.

HANNAH AND HERMIONE
 

Hannah and Hermione were eleven months old when they first came to us. The twins’ older brother was on an intensive verbal behaviour programme for his autism and cerebral palsy. Hannah and Hermione both did not engage in behaviours which their parents would have been expecting and concerns had been raised by their health visitor. Neither girls were making eye contact or babbling and neither seemed to notice the presence of their mother. Despite being told to wait until they were eighteen months old by the family Doctor, Hannah and Hermiones’ parents were keen to address any area they could and not let any gaps increase between them and their typically developing peers. Through the processes of simple conditioning, Hannah and Hermione learned to make eye contact for communicative intent. We then taught them some simple signs. Both girls are now twenty months old, have lots of words, are tottering about and are very social little ones!

XAC

Xac came to us at two years old with a diagnosis of autism. He had no language, cried for 75% of his waking hours and followed no instructions. NETwork Interventions recruited a team of therapists to work with his family and addressed both intensive and natural environment teaching. Xac has been with us for eighteen months now and is requesting in four word utterances, answering simple questions and following multiple step instructions. We are now teaching Xac to request attention which is a very fun part of his programming! Xac is enjoying three mornings a week at a local nursery and has two play dates with his typically developing peers each week.

 

SASCHA

Sascha’s father phoned us with, he felt, nowhere else to turn. Sascha was seven years old and had elective mutism/selective mutism. She would not sleep until 11pm in her father’s bed and was waking at 5am. Sascha had a restrictive diet of eating only orange foods. Sascha’s father was unable to afford face to face consultations, so opted for our long distance programming option which consisted of a video consultation and fortnightly data and video review with monthly phone calls with their consultant. Within three months Sascha was eating anything put in front of her (apart from cauliflower!), was sleeping in her own bed at 8pm and coming in to wake her dad at 7am each morning. Within one month Sascha was requesting at home. Six months on, Sascha is now speaking fully conversationally at home and is requesting at school. Watch this space!

 

ZICHA

Zicha was eleven years old when he first came to us. Zicha had limited language and engaged in acute self injurious behaviour. Both of Zicha’s parents received counseling through NETwork Interventions to address the stresses in their relationship. Within three months Zicha’s self injurious behaviour was fully eradicated and he was beginning to make known all of his motivations through vocal language. Zicha is now requesting attention and is on a full time in home programme. Zicha will be beginning play dates in September of this year, which we are all very excited about.

JOHN

John was seven when he came to us. He was at a special school and returning from school covered in bruises and unable to tell his mum what was happening. John was still in nappies, slept for only four hours a night and used pecs to communicate his motivation for three items. We immediately taught sign language for an array of motivators and spent three months pairing new activities and items with reinforcement. John can vocally request for all of his motivations and is continually expanding on things he enjoys. John is taught at a mainstream school each morning and at home with volunteers in the afternoons. John is fully potty trained and his favourite food is now chicken casserole. John speaks with an English accent which is so cute, much to his father’s regret!

REBECCA

Rebecca is a nineteen year old woman who spent the majority of her time in isolation. Rebecca’s sole motivations were for television, drawing blood from her parents and brioche. Rebecca’s family and new team, recruited by NETwork Interventions, received intensive face to face training for three days prior to an evaluation pursuant to an in home programme being delivered. Within one month Rebecca had a wide array of motivations and foods, and within three months Rebecca was requesting for all of these vocally. Rebecca’s parents received separate counseling services from NETwork Interventions throughout the first six months of Rebecca’s programme. Rebecca is now working from home for a local delivery company, and is going out on her own to the local shops. Rebecca has made phenomenal progress, is requesting attention and answering simple WH questions. We are just so proud of her and her family.

DAVID

David is a seventeen year old boy who has cerebral palsy. David had no speech, a limited eating repertoire and spent the majority of his time watching television. David rarely made eye contact. Three months on David had a wide range of foods which he ate, an ever increasing array of motivations and is now requesting using three word utterances nine months on. Go David!

NOAH
 

Noah was twenty three when we first met with him and his family. Noah had a motivation for only three items and activities, was entirely prompt dependent for everything he did and had never spoken a word. Within our first two day consultation, Noah began to play independently, make his own drinks, go to the toilet on his own and said his first two spoken words. In addition to this, we taught Noah to write independently so as he could quickly tell his family and therapists his requests. This was two months ago and Noah’s progress is going from strength to strength.

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JAMES
 

James is from a family of six children, all home educated in New Zealand. When he first came to us he was five years old. James had lots of language but very few social skills. He had an extremely restricted diet and engaged in a high amount of challenging behaviours which were extremely disruptive to his family life. James’s mom rarely took him out as it was such hard work for everybody, and just so emotionally draining for everybody. Through long distance consultations James’s mom implemented some very simple procedures to gain instructional control over James’s behaviour and shape his language. James now has play dates three times a week and is enjoying lots of social groups. He is almost indistinguishable from his peers, which is just what we like to see.

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ANNIE
 

Annie is our beautiful eight year old. She has Rett’s syndrome and we have been working together for over a year now. Annie has ups and downs in her physical progress, and we work closely with her pediatricians, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. We adore Annie and her family – they have worked so hard with us. Annie’s parents and grandparents have received behavioural psychology and counseling through NETwork Interventions, as well as ongoing verbal behaviour consultations. We have to continually adapt Annie’s programming to her changing physically abilities, however these go from strength to strength as does her language. Annie was a very intelligent but frustrated little girl when we met, but now has lots of communication skills, a wicked sense of humour, lots of motivations which are fulfilled and the most infectious giggle you’ll ever come across!

FREDDIE

Freddie is 5 years old and has Fragile X syndrome. He came to us exhibiting symptoms of autism: language delay; challenging behaviours and lots of struggles with his academic and social skills. Freddie is taught in mainstream nursery for part of the week and at home by his parents and grandma for the other half of the week. He has made phenomenal progress. In one week he was sleeping through the night, within three weeks eating his fruit and veg and within six weeks he was requesting for all his motivators using one word utterances. Six months on, Freddie is a keen korfballer and is requesting using three word utterances and carrier phrases. Freddie has been taught entirely in the natural environment and can request attention. He is just beginning to mand for information (he has got ‘when’ down pat and the others are currently being taught!). His parents have done so well, seeing their consultant once every three months and speaking with her once a fortnight. It’s mainstream reception for Freddie in September!

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LUCAS
 

Lucas is three years old and has downs syndrome. When we first met with his parents, Lucas had already been ‘advised to leave’ his nursery as his behaviour was too problematic and ‘disruptive’ to his class and teachers. Lucas was partial to throwing and biting, and had no language skills. We quickly began teaching Lucas at home using sign language which brought about his vocal speech within just a few weeks. Simple communication skills completely eradicated Lucas’s need to throw and bite. He is now back in a local nursery and attends a local drama and dance group. Lucas has a baby sister now who he is totally enraptured by.

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PETER
 

Peter was ten when we first met him. He ran away daily, engaged in almost constant self stimulatory behaviours and had frequent aggressive outbursts towards adults around him. Peter and his family have been with us for nearly two years now. He is at mainstream school with an aide and homeschooled every afternoon and weekend. Peter has frequent play dates, never runs away any longer, loves to cook with his mum and is now asking lots of WH questions. Peter has also found that he loves to ski and surf and attends group lessons with no aides.