I have been married for twenty years to a wonderful man who has high functioning autism. I have two children, my daughter is 27 years old and my son is 19. My son has severe autism. Autism is not a good thing or a bad thing, it’s a different thing. It makes my husband and son who they are and I am so very proud of my family.
I have over twenty years experience of working with children and adults with autism, alongside the staff and families who support them, within a variety of environments. I have been writing and delivering autism training, packages and support plans for the majority of my career, including The National Autistic Society EarlyBird Programme. During my career I have also been a Lecturer in Health and Care for several colleges.
Alongside my private work, I work for the Redcar and Cleveland Local Authority within a specialist team of Early Years SEND Practitioners. My role involves
I set up Connecting Worlds autism training in November 2018. I managed my time between my business and working part time for Redcar and Cleveland Local Authority as part of a specialist disabilities team. I held the position for 15 years. My duties included: contributing reports and assessments to the autism diagnostic team, regular monitoring of SEND provision, assisting educational settings to use SENDCO bandings and threshold criteria when assessing children’s needs and support and delivering family groups accross the borough – working with parents, carers, educators and therapists to help children develop their social, emotional and communication skills.
In November 2019 I took the ‘Leap of Faith’ and regigned my position with the LA to concentrate fully on my business. I have built, and continue to grow, a client base with whom I work regularly, delivering training packages and consultancy services.
I have real life experience, both personally and professionally. I have worked with hundreds of people with autism and you know what they say,
‘If you’ve met one person with autism………..you’ve met one person with autism’ ref: Dr Stephen Shore.
Although autistic people share common difficulties, every single person is unique. I have met some remarkable individuals who have taught me so very much, for which I am eternally grateful. My training and experience enables me to offer a broad perspective on autism to a wide variety of audiences. Through face to face training I aim to provide people with the knowledge, skills and understanding required to provide effective help and support to people with autism.
