INGRID VLAM: AREA DIRECTOR
I have been supporting people with a learning disability and/or mental health support issues for over twenty years. My experience has been in a wide variety of settings, including a therapeutic community, a large institution, a hospital, community day services and private homes. I trained as a learning disability nurse in the Netherlands in the late 1980's, where I first discovered my particular interest in supporting people with complex needs who present challenges. I spent some time in the USA in the early 1990's, where I experienced various creative and more inclusive ways of supporting people.
More recently I have experience of setting up individualised services for people with complex needs, which has been motivated by a desire to support those who have been excluded due to their behaviours. This particular interest developed while I was co-coordinating community based day services, which presented numerous challenges.
In my current role as Area Director (Bristol), I have overall operational responsibility for a wide range of services. My focus is to ensure that Brandon Trust delivers high-quality services to individuals to enable them to live as independently as possible and to develop integration, especially for people with complex support needs.
Most of my skills I have developed directly through experience but I am also a positive behaviour management trainer, focusing on teaching proactive approaches to managing behaviour. The training involves teaching non aversive physical interventions as a tool kit for managing behaviours and supporting people in crisis.
