“My Daughter was recently and finally diagnosed as autistic. It has taken the knowledge of Chris's tutoring and mentoring to help recognise and support this period for my daughter. Chris is continuing to help her finds ways to understand herself, be kinder to herself and see what it can actually mean to live and learn, as a brilliant autistic girl with the support of someone who can understand, not judge and encourage... which is amazing.”
— H, Mum of Year Seven pupil
I have a DBS certifiacte on the DBS update service and am fully insured.
Mentoring and tutoring
I mentor and tutor autistic children in their own homes, supporting them on their educational journey and helping them better understand who they are and how they learn. Sessions are bespoke autistic-led provision which meets the child where they are at and gives them ownership over their learning. They are a dialogue between me and the child where they get to decide what they learn and how they learn and I provide the structure and support to maximise their experience.
For some children I work with, often the older Secondary school aged children, they request discrete tuition in a subject or subjects such as Maths, English or Science. For others, often the younger Primary aged children, we collaborate on project work based around their interests and passions. Projects cover a wide range of topics and have included cars, Star Wars, trains, cats, story writing... amongst many others. I see my role as a collaborator, a bringer of ideas, a suggester of next steps, a source of knowledge and learning skills, with the child at the centre of their own learning, the active protagonist, invested and empowered to decide on the content, direction and speed of their learning.
At the heart of what I do though is act as a role model and mentor for autistic children who often, through an awareness of being different to their contemporaries and a lack of provision and support in educational settings, have taken on negative attitudes and feelings about being autistic and therefore themselves. This mentoring can take the form of in-depth conversations about being autistic, the joys and challenges, but also is as simple as taking the time to listen to the children I work with and confirm for them that their experiences, passions and differences are valuable and amazing.
Training
I provide training for organisations on autism, educating autistic children and inclusion.
Training session are bespoke to the needs of the organisation and are tailored to be impactful and long lasting.
Contact me for more information.