Toby Mountjoy’s Desk – My career working with children with ASD

I had an interesting start in my career with children with autism. I arrived in Hong Kong in 1996 after graduating in the UK and came to HK wondering if there might be something more exciting to offer than living in England. My girlfriend told me about a training that was happening with a doctor from Los Angeles, who had been called in to help a group of families wanting a program for their older children. I was lucky to be accepted to join the orientation and found it fascinating. The children were all very different and the ABA approach seemed very effective. I was chosen to work with a few children and then began what were to be many years of working with people with autism. I am very grateful to those families that took me into their homes and trusted me with their children in the beginning. I knew nothing and needed a lot of training and oversight. The families were very patient and tried to provide the best resources they could to support the training programs. It was hard for them as they needed to find and hire staff, organize the schedules and training as well as handle their children every day. As time passed, more and more families became interested in the program and we decided to open an office of AP here in Hong Kong to better serve our clients. It would mean that we could provide full time salaried work and offer far more comprehensive training. In addition, families would not need to hire and train their own staff and have to deal with the horrors of scheduling. It was the beginning of another chapter and the start of AP in Hong Kong which has been long, challenging and incredibly satisfying career. I have loved working with the families and children and have watched the progressive change and development of our wonderful treatment program. I am also very lucky to have had the most talented staff work with me and devote their lives also to those families and children. For all these things I am a very lucky person. I hope I still have many more years to go! Best, Toby Mountjoy