We all have something in common: we all share the aim of enabling positive and affirming human social contact for all the people who need it.

Last week I was lucky enough to be a part of two different Intensive Interaction events - firstly doing some teaching on organisational change on the Intensive Interaction Institute Coordinators course in Great Malvern, and then sharing a weekend in Malham with 22 other Intensive Interaction practitioners focusing on using Intensive Interaction with people with language.

I suppose what I took from these two very different events was how we … and across these two events 'we' were a mixture of teachers, teaching assistants, speech & language therapists, a speech and language technician, an occupational therapist, adult residential staff, adult sessional support staff, a parent, senior leaders, a researcher, a learning disability nurse, an II coordinator/practitioner, and me ... with varying levels of professional qualification and/or none … how we all share a common belief in and passion for creating positive and affirming human social contact for people (adults and children, and now also older adults with dementia) who had a communication or social impairment – whether that be when looking for educational, social or therapeutic outcomes.

But I also took something else; a realisation that Intensive Interaction has certain fundamental qualities about it that mean that, as a social communication approach, it is open for us all to do, at least to some degree, from the most novice practitioners to gnarled old timers like myself.

And I also started to think about some of the things that set Intensive Interaction apart from other approaches used within our respective fields, these being that:

• Intensive Interaction doesn't need a particular qualification for practitioners to start to do it – as can be seen by the range of people on these two events - we come to Intensive Interaction from many different working and/or care contexts; in fact the approach embodies some common humanistic values that we all seem to share - although obviously good quality training and/or supportive mentoring in the rationale and practices of Intensive Interaction is essential for positive practice development. 

• Intensive Interaction doesn't need complex and esoteric (and sometimes methodologically opaque) professional assessments of certain areas of skill (or deficit) or performance (or behaviour) to identify those who should be a recipient of our socially inclusive Intensive Interaction - although obviously the involvement of consulting professionals can always strengthen a case being made for the sustained provision of the approach. 

• Intensive Interaction doesn't need professional gate-keepers i.e. those who might assume authority to say who can and who can't at least try to do Intensive Interaction at some level, to the best of their ability, given that we are all on a journey of our own practice development - although obviously having champions for Intensive Interaction who work to identify and nurture fellow enthusiasts and supporters can be very useful. 

• Intensive Interaction doesn't need the person who receives it to have been given an official and/or professional diagnosis of any particular condition, disorder or syndrome - although having a diagnosis of certain developmental conditions or intellectual disabilities that affect communication and/or sociability will obviously make a case stronger for its provision.

But also I took from my interactions with all the people over this last week a renewed feel for the real power of peer support within an identifiable community of practice, of the positive benefits of inclusively sharing our Intensive Interaction experiences and viewpoints, and of the great value of receiving (and giving) encouraging and constructive feedback to support individual and collective reflection on our Intensive Interaction practices.

Phew - what a week!

So many thanks to Elizabeth, Lena, Gillian, Emily, Eleanor, Tom, Julie, Wendy (twice - that's just being greedy!), the three Jos, Stella, Jayne and Catherine, Anne and Nancy (apparently Victoria is waiting to hear all about it), Nick, Lynnette, Janet and Anne, Charlotte, Sharon (all the way from Cornwall!), Paula, Liz (don’t forget the research summary!) and Rachel, Neal and Frances (great curry!), Claire and Sam – all your contributions to our dynamic, open and expanding Intensive Interaction community of practice were all very welcome.