About me, my expertise, qualifications and SEND experience

I have been teaching for over 30 years and the majority of that time has been in SEND. I am a qualified teacher: I was the literacy lead in a SEND school, and I am now an advisory inclusion specialist teacher.

How I teach students who are preverbal, autistic, or have other complex needs.

By using a toolbox of strategies to achieve co-regulation and shared attention, I teach students with complex needs or who are pre-verbal ways to communicate using Total Communication methods, including MAKATON and Widget. I believe it is essential to always be neuro-affirming in my approaches, which means I adjust to meet each child’s individual needs.

How I teach autistic, ADHD or other neurodivergent students.

I use technology and multisensory tools (for example, index cards, notebooks, coloured pens and markers) to create a learning environment that works with each student’s unique brain.

How I teach English

English and communication are about connection and story. I love to learn about each student’s stories, real or imaginary! By using books as a basis for each lesson, I can start with story sacks and toys, crafts and drama, or for my more able children, I love to read aloud and ask students to draw or doodle the ideas they are listening to.

As a one-to-one tutor, I work commonly with students who, for different reasons, have lost their confidence in their ability to write and explore GCSE English. I work with them to reengage with the subject without anxiety by using a shared understanding and shared language to help them find a way to take back control.

How I help students communicate

Personally, I believe a big part of being an educated person means being able to communicate, which leads to having autonomy, which leads to self-advocacy. This is why I find teaching English so important. Every student deserves the right to learn how to advocate and communicate, whatever that may look like. I communicate with students who have different communication needs due to their neurodiversity or emotional needs, or other disabilities, by finding opportunities and activities to support them, for example using board games to start a conversation.

How I help students engage with learning

When I’m teaching, I always use the PACE model: I often start with a game and make lessons Playful; I accept each individual child just as they are; I am Curious to learn more about each student; and I have empathy for students’ emotions, experiences, and behaviours. By starting here, I build relationships based on trust to help my students feel safe, calm and happy. I then find out what their special interests and passions are, which I use to direct my lesson planning.

How I make lessons fun

In my lessons, I regularly use play because it is an essential part of children’s learning, and it is important to remember that play is: self-chosen; self-directed; process rather than product-driven; contains structural rules established by the players themselves; imaginative, nonliteral, and occurs between those who are not stressed. When I join in with children’s play, then lessons become fun. For autistic children, play can often look different and joining in could, for example, look like parallel play.

How I help students with focus, attention and emotional regulation

All lessons start with co-regulation. This could look like giving a student access to their own personal regulation tools (e.g., such as a cold drink or sensory circuit). Sometimes, this part of the lesson can be the main focus for a student who is struggling with co-regulation; however, it should not be minimised or seen as unimportant.

For some learners, they may find Attention Autism is an enjoyable way for them to learn attention, focus and language skills. For other learners, they may prefer a Rise therapy approach where key words are introduced and a more learner-led, sensory-focused approach might be more suitable.

For all students, using multisensory approaches and adapting and adjusting my teaching style helps them become focused on their lessons.