Anna Kennedy OBE’s guest this week on ‘All Things Autism‘ is Joanna Gibbs. Anna first met Joanna at her charities Autism Expo at Brunel University earlier in the year.
Joanna has 20 years’ experience working with children, including 12 years supporting those with specific educational and behavioural needs; ASD (autism), ADHD/ ADD, dyslexia, language delay, memory difficulties, focus and concentration difficulties, Down syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome and other needs. Joanna is a qualified teacher with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), has an undergraduate degree with honours in linguistics and phonetics from the University of Leeds, and was awarded a merit in her Masters’ of Education degree in Inclusion, and Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties.
Joanna has previously worked as a behavioural needs assistant and speech therapy assistant within an NHS multidisciplinary team in Coventry. The opportunity to work alongside teachers, parents, SENCOs, speech therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, and nurses directly attributed to the broad insight and understanding that encompasses her high level of experience and skills today. She was able to deploy a variety of strategies and interventions within the home and school environment to target a number of educational, behavioural and health needs. This in turn provided a safe environment to enable children to thrive, which boosted their confidence and well-being, and allowed children to unlock and fulfil their true potential. This rewarding experience propelled her to want to help people outside her own community.
With a developed sense of empathy towards others Joanna then decided to work as a teacher in one of the largest slums in northern India. This was an eye-opening experience and attributed greatly to her continued passion to help others nationally and internationally today. Following this incredible experience Joanna was employed as an intern at The American School of London. Upon successful completion, she was then headhunted to become a founding member and subsequent Head of Leaning Support at Chadwick International School in South Korea, Head of Autism and Behaviour (ADHD) support at at adolescent unit in Adelaide, South Australia, and the KS2 Lead teacher at an international school in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Joanna brings her extensive international experience back to Europe to make a profound difference to the families and children in the UK. She has a number of exciting success stories working with children with ASD (autism), ADHD, dyslexia, behaviour and communication difficulties, and other needs, which she would love to share.
Joanna is the founder and director of SENsational Tutors, the UK’s leading private SEN company. You can contact her through their website or by email: director@sensationaltutors.co.uk
If you missed their interview you can hear every day this week at 1pm on Women’s Radio Station.
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the founder of Psychreg. He writes for the American Psychological Association and has a weekly column for Free Malaysia Today.
