As part of our commitment to providing the very best support for autistic people, we have created the Voyage Care autism professionals group. The group comprises of autism experts from across the company who proactively support their colleagues to continually develop.

What are the goals of the autism professionals group?

The group aims to enable inspirational outcomes for autistic people by:

1. Developing enhanced partnerships with families, carers and professionals
2. Sharing best practice and supporting their colleagues
3. Engaging autistic people and encouraging them to contribute to their wider communities
4. Working alongside Voyage Care’s specialist services to achieve the National Autistic Society’s Autism Accreditation

How will the autism professionals group achieve their goals?

The group will engage with both staff and autistic people we support, including:

• Developing planned activities for autistic people to develop their skills and experience across a range of increasingly challenging situations
• Identifying relevant case studies to demonstrate outcomes and enhance regulatory ratings
• Supporting continuous professional development for staff to ensure good working knowledge of the latest strategies, methods and approaches that provide positive outcomes for autistic people
• Gathering qualitative and quantitative feedback and data to ensure consistent and high quality support is tailored to each autistic person
• Supporting the operations team to collate evidence of the outcomes of our support for autistic people

Our autism experts

Shaji Rajamony (Raj) – Autism Specialism Implementer

Raj is the National Autism Lead for Voyage Care and works as an external moderator for the National Autistic Society (NAS). Raj was nominated as a member of the appellate panel for the NAS Accreditation Appeals Committee, which address the appeals against accreditation committee decisions.

With his vast experience and networking with other providers and supporting services, Raj has helped Voyage Care’s autism specialist services to achieve NAS Advanced Accreditation status. He works alongside Service Managers and Behaviour Support Practitioners to make lives meaningful for the autistic people we support.

Raj also works with the Quality Development Team in updating autism related policies and procedures.

Raj holds a postgraduate qualification in Autism and Asperger’s from Sheffield Hallam University. He is passionate about autism and has been involved in a range of projects for autistic people in our support services.

Karina Johnson, Quality Development Manager

Karina is a successful manager and leader, with a nursing background (RNMH) and 40+ years NHS experience. She has worked primarily in the field of complex learning disability services and Mental Health/Neuropsychiatry, including Acquired Brain Injury. Karina has used her knowledge and experience to support the development of the autism specialism at Voyage Care.

Karina has led the implementation of the autism action plan, working closely with Shelley Gray and Raj to develop the autism policy, procedure and the necessary collateral to support the provision of outstanding support to autistic people.

Shelley Gray, Quality Control Manager

Shelley has many years of experience working within community settings with a range of people of all ages and abilities. She previously managed a successful community-based service and supported new business ventures for Voyage Care. Since moving to the Quality Development team, Shelley has been an integral part of developing the company’s autism specialism. She is passionate that this is a positive step for all autistic people being supported by Voyage Care.

Champika Gallage – Behaviour Support Practitioner

Champika has worked for Voyage Care for 20 years and has a MSC degree in Applied Psychology in intellectual disabilities and cognitive behaviour therapy. Prior to joining the Behavioural Support team in May 2020, Champika worked as a residential care manager at Sheringham Avenue and supported the service to gain their NAS accreditation and ‘Outstanding’ rating from CQC in 2019. The team also won the ‘Specialist Team’ award at the Voyage Care Excellence Awards in 2018.

Champika currently works as a Behavioural Support Practitioner in the South East region and supports the teams to improve the quality of lives of autistic people, by delivering Autism specialist training such as ADHD and sensory awareness.

Micheala Ryan, Risk & Governance Manager

Micheala has held a number of positions within the health and social care sector in local authority, charity and private organisations.

Micheala is very passionate about autism and being the mother of an autistic person is able to bring real life experience to the professional team. Micheala was instrumental in establishing the unique relationship with The National Autistic Society and will continue to ensure that the services working towards accreditation receive recognition and support throughout the implementation of the programme.

Micheala is also passionate about building good networks that provide the best and most well-informed autism support within Voyage Care’s services. Actively seeking opportunities to work closely within the autism communities and other local autism groups will be a priority.

Rosie Burke, Head of Marketing

Rosie leads our marketing team, her role on the autism professionals group is to develop effective marketing and communications for the people we support, their families and people who are looking for support.

She’s passionate about making information accessible for all people.

Before moving into marketing, Rosie was a teacher and provided support for adults with learning disabilities to access education. She has worked with a number of autistic children and adults.