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 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. I deliver family groups where we work with parents, carers, educators and therapists to help children develop their social, emotional and communication skills.
I am in the very privileged position of being able to work closely with individual families in their own homes. I often work with them for several years and build special relationships. I support families through very difficult and highly emotional times and to also share in their achievements as I understand the amount of effort it has taken to ‘get there’.
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. They 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. I aim to provide people with the knowledge, skills and understanding required to provide effective help and support to people with autism.
