Recommendations
"As a parent and having been a teacher within the field of SEN myself, what sets this guide apart is its compassionate, celebratory and inclusive approach, as well as its effort to empower both audiences with knowledge and tools so that they can make a meaningful difference to the children in their lives. It offers clear, practical advice that is both accessible and insightful making it an easy read for educators and parents alike. Furthermore, it not only provides the reader with helpful strategies for supporting children with learning and processing differences, but also stresses the importance of understanding each child as an individual. I believe that it is a resource which every teacher and parent of children with special educational needs would benefit from having on their bookshelf!"Rosalind Birkett
(Cert Ed, Advanced Cert in Counselling, RSA Dip Specific
Learning Difficulties, Dip Integrative Arts Psychotherapy)
About the Author
Jacqueline Haigh has worked and supported children with Special Educational Needs for over 20 years (in both state and private sectors) and for 14 of these years, worked as a specialist teacher providing specialist provision for children with learning differences. Having taught 1:1 literacy for many years, after completing her level 5 certificate in teaching children with dyslexia, she became the lead specialist teacher within her department and led her team for five years. In addition to her specialist teacher training, in 2016 Jacqueline completed her Masters with Birmingham University in Inclusion and Special educational Needs with her specialism being in social and emotional difficulties and autism.
The majority of Jacqueline’s pupils have been dyslexic or autistic, however, many of them due to the nature of co-morbidity, have also had additional learning difficulties such as dyspraxia, speech and language difficulties, ADHD, cerebral palsy, global developmental delay and social and emotional difficulties.
Jacqueline is now semi-retired, and still continues to provide support to adolescents and young adults with autism and emotional and learning difficulties on a part time basis, with the aim of helping them to reach their true individual potentials. During this time, she has also taken the opportunity to write this guide book as a response to her deep desire to use her knowledge and experience within special education in a positive and constructive way, so that she can help teachers, especially newly qualified teachers and parents who have children with special educational needs, to begin to embrace neurological differences, develop more understanding around learning differences, in particular specific learning difficulties and so, as a result, be able to fittingly support them. Finally, Jacqueline has devised the guide so that it signposts the reader to services and organisations which can help them to access help, so that they can feel positive, confident and secure in supporting their children or the children they teach.
