Belinda

My experience with special educational needs

Throughout my career, I have worked extensively with children with additional needs. When I first began working in schools, I was a LSA for a non-verbal child with ASD who required a high level of specialist support to access both learning and school life. He used PECS to communicate and found social interaction particularly tricky. I worked closely with him to develop his use of PECS and to provide the individual support he needed to access his learning, build his interpersonal skills and be more socially communicative. Since qualifying as a teacher, I have worked with children with dyslexia, dyspraxia (DCD), dyscalculia, ADHD, ASD, Apraxia, Di Georgio Syndrome and hearing loss. I have worked in mainstream schools, in small-groups and one-to-one tuition. In each setting, I have worked to understand and meet their individual needs, while helping them to develop confidence and positive relationship with school and learning.

A bit about me

My personal experience of SEND has been wide-ranging. I have worked with children with additional needs throughout most of my career. On a more personal level, I grew up with a half-sister with profound additional needs and come from a family with a wide range of learning differences, including my own. I was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia (DCD) in 1988, and both of my brothers are dyslexic, as is my father. We all think and learn differently, and traditional mainstream learning environments have not always suited the way our brains work. I was very fortunate to receive the right support when I was growing up, which enabled me to understand how I learn and ultimately to succeed within education. This personal experience has had a significant influence on my approach as an educator. I understand how powerful the right support can be, particularly when it recognises the individual rather than focusing solely on the difficulties they may be experiencing.

My teaching philosophy

My approach to teaching and coaching starts with the individual child. I do not expect a child to bend and adapt to the learning. I work out how the learning needs to adapt to them. For me, a large part of teaching is getting to know the learner and working out what makes them tick. What do they enjoy? What motivates them? What makes them feel successful, and what causes them to switch off or become overwhelmed? One child might need structure, timers, clear goals and rewards to feel calm and secure enough to learn. Another might need movement and regular breaks because sitting still for more than ten minutes means they are no longer able to concentrate. Another may need colour, visual prompts and work broken down into small, achievable steps. I enjoy solving this puzzle with the learner. Once I understand what they need to feel safe, engaged and successful, I can build the learning around them and help them make meaningful progress.

Schedule

Tutoring specialisation

I’m providing tutoring sessions for students with these educational needs: