Meet Clare Metcalfe, Head of Learning Disabilities and Autism and Head of Mental Health
At Thornbury Community Services (TCS), our people are at the heart of everything we do. We all share one common goal; to provide high quality, person-centred care for our clients, empowering them to achieve their long-term goals whilst leading fulfilling lives in their own communities.
As it is World Autism Awareness Week, we’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to a few of our Learning Disabilities and Autism team members. We are truly grateful to have a team of such passionate and dedicated individuals, who are committed to making a difference to the lives of adults and children living with a learning disability and/or autism.
Meet Clare Metcalfe our Head of Learning Disabilities and Autism and Head of Mental Health at TCS:
Clare’s background
Clare started her career as a Support Worker, working alongside people with learning disabilities. She has dedicated the last 24 years gaining rich experience and increasing her knowledge and skills within forensic, inpatient, community and autism diagnostic services,16 of these years were within the NHS as a Learning Disability Nurse. Clare’s main specialism is Autism and Positive Behaviour Support, an area for which she has developed a huge passion and interest.
Throughout her career, Clare has built a considerable academic profile, including:
- A Master’s Degree in Autism Spectrum Disorder at Northumbria University
- A Post Graduate Masters Certificate in Positive Behavioural Support at Northumbria University
- ADOS and ADI trained (Autism Diagnosis)
- Sensory Integration trained
Clare’s role at TCS
Clare leads the Learning Disability, Autism and Mental Health Service at TCS. Within this role, Clare manages a team of Clinicians that work alongside the people we support, their families and the staff teams, to ensure that evidence-based practice is at the forefront of what we do. A key focus for Clare is her role as a Positive Behaviour Support Practice Leader. This enables her to develop and maintain a person-centred, proactive and preventative approach to care, focusing on understanding functions of behaviours presented, teaching new skills and supporting the workforce towards a positive culture.
Clare believes that it is extremely important that, as a service, TCS is always striving to increase people’s interests and likes and that people are supported by a team that have excellent values and personalities. She has a strong belief that people should have the opportunity to be a citizen within their own community whilst being supported to make choices and decisions around their own life.
For more information on World Autism Awareness Week, visit the National Autistic Society website.
Interested in joining the TCS team? Register your interest today.