Skybound Therapies close to Haverfordwest, celebrates its tenth birthday this month
Skybound Therapies, a world-renowned behaviour evaluation and remedy centre at Wiston close to Haverfordwest, is celebrating two successes: it has reached its tenth anniversary and on November 15 was a finalist for the Award for UK Employer of the Yr (2-49 workers): Accredited within the 2022 Traders in Individuals Awards.
Skybound Therapies offers tailor-made help to assist enhance the standard of life for people with studying, behavioural or emotional difficulties. It was based in 2012 by Risca Solomon, who first found behaviour evaluation when on the lookout for methods to help her foster brother Dan.
Risca first met Dan when she was 18 and doing work expertise at a neighborhood particular faculty in Haverfordwest. He was a four-year-old with autism and really difficult behaviour, which made his care tough.
By coincidence Risca met Dan once more when she took a pre-university job working for Barnardo’s. She was tasked with taking Dan to and from his respite care – however then the respite placement broke down attributable to his difficult behaviour.
Risca’s dad and mom had been respite carers since she was 11 and so they had been registered with Barnardo’s, so Risca begged them to step in to supply respite look after Dan. They agreed on the situation that Risca present numerous help, which she was happy to do – and after simply a short time offering respite care, a change in Dan’s circumstances led Risca’s household to turn out to be his long-term foster carers.
Now aged 25, Dan continues to be along with his foster household. His time is break up between Risca’s house, the place she lives along with her husband and two youngsters, and her dad and mom’ house on the neighbouring farm.
Bringing Dan into her household modified the course of Risca’s life: she give up her plans to go away to college and as a substitute began finding out behaviour evaluation whereas additionally endeavor an Open College diploma in Psychology.
“As quickly as I learnt about behaviour evaluation, I knew it was what Dan wanted, so I set about coaching in it,” she says. “Doing this alongside an Open College diploma meant I might keep at house to assist take care of Dan, and combat for him to get behaviour evaluation.”
She was profitable, and with the assistance of behaviour evaluation, Dan has achieved many milestones that had beforehand appeared inconceivable, together with bowel management, driving a motorcycle, and studying to talk.
Risca began sharing the household’s journey with Dan and behavior evaluation on YouTube, and folks began contacting her to ask how they might entry behaviour evaluation for his or her youngsters. On the time, individuals typically needed to journey overseas to entry the help, so Risca determined to arrange Skybound Therapies and provide behaviour evaluation in Wales.
The enterprise began with simply Risca and one different behaviour analysist working in a portacabin, the place they supplied intensive five-day behaviour evaluation programmes. These had been a terrific success, so the enterprise grew rapidly and Risca determined to create a purpose-built centre on her farm.
Now, 10 years after Skybound Therapies started, Risca employs 38 workers together with 10 board licensed behaviour analysts. Households fly in from locations as numerous as India, Belgium, Eire and Scotland for behaviour evaluation programmes and Risca’s group additionally journey to ship behaviour evaluation to many places throughout the UK, together with Cardiff, Newport, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Yorkshire and Norfolk.
Risca now lectures internationally on instructing youngsters with ASD, and Skybound Therapies is at present collaborating with the College of South Wales on a European grant funded programme to check the applying of behaviour science together with sure speech and language strategies.
“It’s wonderful how far we’ve come – and Dan was sort of the catalyst to all of it,” says Risca. “It was about giving him a greater high quality of life and now these values prolong to all our shoppers – it’s all in regards to the youngsters. Skybound Therapies has advanced organically. Day by day throws up new challenges and it’s all about being answer targeted and persevering with to develop and develop. We’re very a lot wanting ahead to the subsequent 10 years.”
