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So, the day before I hit the BIG 4–0 I’ve decided to take part in the Great North Run! On Sunday September 10th, I’ll be joining thousands of other runners on a 13.1-mile ‘jog’ through Newcastle city centre, over the iconic Tyne Bridge, through Gateshead and onto the finish in South Shields. Rather than just doing it for fun, I thought I’d take this opportunity to ask family, friends and customers to help me raise money for a cause very close to my heart: the ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis) Class at Kings Mill Special School in Driffield.

Why Kings Mill Special School, and why the ABA Class?

Some of you may be aware that my 5-year old nephew Emmett is autistic. At just under a year old he began to change from a happy, smiling, babbling baby into a quiet little guy with limited responses and eye contact. With lots of intensive interaction from his parents and outside services we are happily starting to see a little bit more of Emmett each day. However, he is still non-verbal, unaware of danger and needs one-to-one supervision during his waking hours. He was originally in a mainstream school with his twin sister Esmé, but it soon became obvious that he was going to need specialist teaching.

In January, Emmett was extremely lucky to be offered a place in the Lower ABA Class at Kings Mill Special School. I say lucky, because Kings Mill is the only Special School in the north that offers fully funded ABA classes! Elsewhere, this therapy would cost around £30,000 a year to fund privately.

It's still early days, but we have already seen positive progress since Emmett started the ABA therapy, and hopefully it will enable him to lead an independent life in the future.

Based in Driffield, Yorkshire, Kings Mill caters for pupils aged between 2 and 19 who have a variety of special educational needs, including severe or profound learning difficulties, epilepsy, physical disabilities, sensory impairment and challenging behaviour, as well as autism.

The school has two specialist ABA classes for pupils with autism. ABA is used to teach new skills and to help reduce problem behaviours. The teaching is highly individualised and intensive, using strategies based on applying the principles of learning and motivation from a body of science called ‘Behaviour Analysis’. Based on decades of research, ABA is very effective and children who have huge barriers to learning are able to make great progress. All of Kings Mill’s ABA teachers are supported, advised and trained through the Carbone Clinic in New York.

Of course, in order to teach in this way, the staff need frequent and on-going training which is extremely expensive. This money is mostly raised through fund raising, rather than using school budgets.

They are always very grateful for any support they receive which goes toward helping them teach the children as effectively as possible, so that they can make the best progress. Any funds raised go towards much needed resources and staff training and help ensure ABA's future at the school – so please help if you can, I really want the blisters to be worth it!