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Education

Sarah Murray holds a Bachelor of Honours degree in Applied Psychology from the University College Cork, and a Master of Science degree in Applied Behaviour Analysis from the National University of Ireland, Galway. Sarah is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst with the Behaviour Analyst Certification Board and is a member of the Psychological Society of Ireland, a member of the Division of Behaviour Analysis and Special Interest Group in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Voluntary Work

During her time at University, Sarah volunteered as a mentor with Suas in their paired reading programme for primary school children, and volunteered as a mentor with the UCC+ Home Work Club for secondary school children. Sarah has travelled to Belarus, working in childrens orphanages and adult institutions, working with a wide variety of abilities. In addition, Sarah spent one year working as a volunteer research assistant in Galway, teaching an extensive social skills curriculum to children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. 

Expertise

To date, Sarahs main area of expertise lies in working with children who have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and to equip children with the tools that they need, in order to navigate the world around them.

In particular, Sarah has an abundance of knowledge and experience in the education and development of children in early years. Teaching functional speech, language and communication, and alternative/augmentative modes of communication to children who present with different abilities, is one of Sarahs core areas of expertise. The repeated, successful outcomes of teaching verbal behaviour to children, is something that Sarah prides herself on.

As well as possessing competency in teaching social skills, reading skills and writing skills, Sarahs proficiency extends to designing and implementing positive behaviour support programmes, in order to reduce behaviours that challenge and to teach functional, replacement skills that are of social significance for children, and for their families, to produce meaningful outcomes for both children and families.

In addition to the above mentioned, Sarah has a countless wealth of other experience, such as the development and implementation of programmes which target selective feeding, toilet training, self help skills such as using cutlery, cups, dressing and tooth brushing, desensitisation programmes to assist with fear/phobia/anxieties, play skills and group, peer and sibling interactions, to name but a few.