Parent Consultation
If you are watching your child struggle and you are not sure what the school should be doing, what you can do at home, or what the behaviour may be communicating, we can work through it together.
Ask about parent supportSpecial Education should be more than a placement.
In this short video, I share who I am, what I have seen across education, and why I am making my Special Education experience available directly to learners, families and educators.
I have spent more than 20 years in education. One thing I know for sure is this: students with Special Educational Needs can and do learn. They may learn at a different pace. They may need information presented differently. They may need different tools, more time, more structure, or a different route into the learning. That does not mean they cannot learn.
With the right tools, resources, teaching and expectations, students with Special Needs can excel. They can work, create, contribute, lead and be productive members of society. We should be preparing them for possibility, not deciding their limits for them.
Support for the learner and the people supporting them.
You do not need to know the professional term for what is happening before asking for help. Start with what you are noticing, where the difficulty is, or what you would like to improve.
Private Learning Support & Tutoring
This is not simply more schoolwork. I look at how the learner learns, where the barriers are, what they already understand and what tools may help them access and demonstrate learning.
Ask about learner supportWorkshops & Consultation
We move beyond simply saying “include the student” and look at what inclusion means in an actual lesson: differentiation, behaviour, classroom ecology, access, regulation and practical strategies teachers can use.
Explore educator supportTraining, Professional Development & Consultation
I provide workshops, professional development, presentations, in-class support and consultation for schools and organisations seeking practical ways to strengthen inclusion, behaviour support and access to learning.
Tell me what your team needsLook beyond the behaviour.
A learner who refuses to work, leaves their seat or appears disengaged may need more than firmer behaviour management. Sometimes we need to ask what may be preventing that learner from accessing the learning.
Understanding behaviour is only the beginning. Differentiating instruction, breaking tasks into manageable steps and providing appropriate supports can help learners move from frustration and avoidance toward greater independence and engagement.
The academic expectation does not have to disappear.
How the learner accesses learning may need to change.
Explore training for schools & organisations
Keep the support going beyond the session.
These resources are for parents and educators who want practical guidance they can return to in their own time.
The environment is part of the learning.
What we teach matters. How we teach matters. The environment in which students are expected to learn matters too.
Create a space students want to be in.
That can mean thinking about lighting, noise, seating, movement, clutter, colour and even something as simple as adding plants. A classroom can either help a learner settle, engage and participate, or make learning harder before the lesson even begins.
This matters for every learner. It can matter even more for students with sensory, attention, regulation or communication needs. Differentiation is not only what is on the worksheet. Sometimes it is what we change in the environment so the student can access the learning.
Read: Classroom Ecology, The Missing ConversationTell me what you need.
A few short details will help me understand your setting, audience and priorities before we speak. You do not need to have the solution worked out already.
For schools and organisations: this information helps me
understand the scope of your request so I can recommend the right format and,
where appropriate, prepare an accurate quote.
More ways to work with me
Explore Work With Me →
Looking for something beyond Special Education?
Explore my wider work in professional learning, behaviour, wellbeing, leadership, speaking, facilitation and organisational support.
INTERACTIVE TEACHER RESOURCE Differentiation in Action Work through practical case studies, classroom decisions and differentiation strategies. Click anywhere in this box to begin.
Differentiation in Action
Explore inclusion, differentiation, autism, dyslexia, ADHD, behaviour and practical classroom adjustments through short activities and case studies.
Being in the room does not mean the student is included.
A student can sit in a mainstream classroom all day and still have very little access to the learning taking place. Differentiation asks us to examine the barriers between the learner and the lesson and intentionally remove or reduce them.
Differentiation does not mean lowering expectations.
It means creating different pathways through which learners can
access, engage with and demonstrate learning.
Think about a learner.
Consider a student you have taught, observed or supported who was
physically present in the classroom but academically disconnected.
What appeared to be getting in the way?
Begin with the challenges, not the label.
A diagnosis can help us understand a learner, but it is not the be all end all. Two students with the same identified need may require very different support.
1. Learner
What strengths, needs, interests and prior knowledge does this
learner bring?
2. Task
What exactly are we asking the learner to understand or do?
3. Barrier
What may be making the task unnecessarily difficult to access?
4. Adjustment
What can we change without removing the purpose of the learning?
What would you do first?
Scenario 1
A student repeatedly puts their head on the desk when a long written task begins. The student participates verbally and appears to understand the discussion.
Yes. Start by investigating the barrier. The learner may understand
the content while struggling with the way the task requires them to
access or demonstrate that understanding.
Consider what the behaviour may be communicating before assuming
that the problem is motivation or deliberate refusal.
Scenario 2
A learner with attention and regulation difficulties becomes increasingly restless during a long teacher-led explanation.
Exactly. Adjusting the structure of instruction can support attention
and regulation without removing the learning expectation.
Think about whether the structure of the lesson is helping or
increasing the learner's difficulty with regulation.
Small adjustments can change access.
Chunk instructions
Give one manageable step at a time rather than several directions
at once.
Use visual support
Pair spoken information with visual cues, examples, models or a
simple sequence.
Check understanding
Ask the learner to show or explain what they understand rather than
relying only on “Do you understand?”
Build in movement
Consider whether purposeful movement can support attention and
regulation rather than treating all movement as disruption.
Reduce unnecessary load
Ask which parts of the task measure the intended learning and which
parts may simply be creating additional barriers.
Offer ways to respond
Where appropriate, allow learners to demonstrate understanding
through speaking, writing, visuals, technology or practical work.
Ask what may be underneath what you can see.
“The student won't start.”
Before deciding the student is simply refusing, consider whether they understand the task, know how to begin, can manage the amount of information presented, or fear getting it wrong.
“The student keeps leaving the seat.”
Consider attention, regulation, sensory needs, task difficulty, the length of instruction, movement needs and what happens immediately before the student gets up.
“The student shuts down.”
Withdrawal may communicate overwhelm, anxiety, confusion, exhaustion or difficulty processing what is happening.
“The student is disruptive.”
Behaviour still needs boundaries, but effective support also asks what is contributing to the behaviour and what can be changed before escalation occurs.
Regulate rather than escalate.
The goal is not to excuse harmful behaviour. It is to respond in a way
that protects dignity, maintains appropriate boundaries and increases
the learner's ability to return to learning.
One change for your classroom.
Think about one learner, lesson or classroom routine. What is one practical adjustment you could make to improve access without lowering the learning expectation?