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Precious is a PhD student at Tizard. She completed her BSc in Psychology at the University of Kent and followed this up with an MA in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at the Tizard. She has also studied for a PGCE in Psychology at Canterbury Christ Church University.

Lisa has an MSc in Analysis and Intervention in Intellectual and Developmental disabilities from the Tizard Centre and has been involved in research and service evaluations within the centre since 2007. Her current work explores the targeted victimisation of people with learning disabilities and autism and a multiple baseline study evaluating a drama based intervention for children with autism.

Jennifer Leigh’s doctoral research was a phenomenological study on children’s perceptions, expressions and reflections of embodiment. She is an accredited Somatic Movement Therapist, a Qualified School Teacher and an experienced Yoga Instructor. She currently works as project manager on a study looking at Costs and Outcomes of Skilled Support for Individuals with Complex Needs. This has been funded by the National Institute for Health Research School of Social Care Research and aims to show whether quality of life outcomes are related to the level of skilled support an individual receives, or the costs of providing support. She is also research associate on the evaluation of ‘Imagining Autism’, an AHRC funded drama intervention for primary school children with autism. The Tizard Centre team, working with Dr David Wilkinson, in the School of Psychology, is evaluating the intervention which is building on a pilot study that demonstrated improvements in children’s imaginative and social play.

Jill trained as a speech and language therapist. She worked in a community team supporting adults with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour in London, before joining the Tizard Centre in 1995. She was appointed as a honorary lecturer in 2003 but returned as a sessional teacher in 2010, after a career break. She now convenes the Undergraduate Autism Studies Programme and teaches on the Postgraduate Programmes in Intellectual Disabilities. Jill’s research interests include communication and challenging behaviour, person-centred active support, staff attributions, communication environments and total communication approaches.

Aida Malovic is a research assistant currently working on 3 projects at Tizard Centre. Aida graduated with an MSc in Cognitive and Neuropsychology from the School of Psychology at University of Kent in 2011. Her past employment includes working for Mencap, the Open University and part-time teaching at the School of Psychology.