Hi, I'm Tina, a former experienced teacher, and I have been working with PANS PANDAS UK, a charity focused on these post infectious neuro-inflammatory conditions for around three years. These conditions can cause children to quickly deteriorate from doing well in school to having complex needs. Awareness about these conditions is currently low, but it is improving thanks to recent advances in the medical field, a Parliamentary debate and media coverage. PANS/ PANDAS can present with some unusual characteristics, and this combined with a lack of awareness and training for schools has made things more difficult. The recent recognition of both PANS/PANDAS as distinct diseases by the NHS, now presents a great opportunity to raise further awareness across education.
www.lewis-support.co.uk
louise@lewis-support.co.uk
I've been working in education for over 20 years, and now specialise in supporting students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), particularly those with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and cerebral palsy (CP).
I hold a Postgraduate Certificate in Language, Literacies and Dyslexia, Approved Teacher Status (ATS) from the British Dyslexia Association (BDA), and a PGCE from Exeter University. Over the years, I've taught everything from Pre-Key Stage right through to A-level, working with learners across a wide range of abilities.
I genuinely love teaching and supporting young people, and I'm committed to making sure that all students, regardless of their abilities, can access meaningful learning opportunities. I'm particularly interested in complex communication needs/MSI and have experience working with AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) users. I'm currently learning British Sign Language, working towards my BSL Level 1.
For me, it's all about ensuring every young person gets the support they need to reach their potential.
The Speech & Language Link online tools and training enable schools to identify and support pupils with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). UK schools ran 245,000 of our SLCN assessments last year and implemented our interventions with 65,000 pupils, because fundamental life skills and chances are built on speech and language.
Literacy, social relationships, behaviour and mental health all have speech and language foundations, so our award-winning packages are created and supported by our specialist team of speech and language therapists. All our standardised assessments, evidence-based interventions and staff training are therapist designed, to ensure that no student falls under the radar.
We work with individual establishments, MATs, LAs, Integrated Care Partnerships, NHS services and other specialist teams to support the deployment of our tools and services into schools.
Hello! I am a specialist speech and language therapist (MSc Speech and Language Therapy) with 13 years of experience in mainstream (Primary and Secondary), centres and special schools.
I am a huge advocate of helping school staff to feel confident about helping their pupils with SLCN. As such, I help to run the Facebook group Speech and Language Support for Schools. For all those who work in schools, we would love to see you in there! Nursery staff are also welcome!
I love working for Speech & Language Link, as it allows me to spread awareness of SLCN and support pupils on a much wider scale. We create award-winning school-based screening and intervention software packages, used to spot and provide therapy children with SLCN.
I look forward to chatting to you soon!
Hi everyone, I'm Torie - Whether you'd like to contribute content, have a technical question about using the community, or are interested in showcasing your organisation, please do get in touch here.
I hope that everyone finds the community space to be supportive and useful.