Teaching Autistic Learners – Post Event Access

Catherine Mohan is a qualified primary school teacher and has been teaching for 25 years (mainly schools in Birmingham). Catherine has many years’ experience of teaching young people with a variety of different strengths and needs, and this has proved invaluable in her current role as specialist teacher in the Communication and Autism Team at Birmingham County Council. In addition to working with schools to implement effective strategies, she also helps to support young people and their families.

Corinna Laurie is a highly skilled and experienced Occupational Therapist specialising in the area of Autism. She has worked with the NAS since 2009.

Corinna was previously the Lead Therapist within a large multi-professional NHS directorate and she is the Director of a successful therapy agency- Evolve Children’s Therapy Services.

Corinna works as the Principal Occupational Therapist at Helen Allison School (NAS) and is the NAS Clinical Lead for Occupational Therapy ensuring clinical governance and best practice are key to therapeutic provisions across the organisation.

Corinna has completed her PGCert in Autism and is also a qualified ADOS-2 assessor, holistic reflexologist and Clinical Aromatherapist. Corinna is a published author with her publication “Sensory and Motor Strategies” proving to be a best seller for the NAS with a third edition soon to be re-published by JKP.

Corinna is an experienced presenter and enjoys sharing best practice with professionals and families alike. Corinna presents nationally to a wide variety of audiences and establishments and has been called to represent her profession/students as an expert witness at SEND tribunals.

Corinna is committed to supporting and continually improving the quality of clinical services to ensure positive outcomes for autistic people and their families.

SEND is Katie Goodwin’s passion, having always known that she wanted to be involved since being very young.

Katie became a SENCO in a mainstream primary school 12 years ago and has not looked back since. Katie specialised in Autism in 2014 when she took over as Head of the ASC Resource Provision at Wilmslow High School. The team became award winners in 2020, winning the NAS “Inspirational Education Provider, Secondary and Further” award in February, followed by the Nasen award for ‘Best Secondary Provision’ in October. During her time at Wilmslow High, Katie was also seconded, part time, to the SEND team at Cheshire East Council, working as an Inclusion Quality SENCO, driving County wide school improvement in SEND.

In September 2021, Katie became the Assistant Head Teacher at Abbey Hill School and College, a growing special school of 345 students.

Amanda Hind has a unique perspective of autism: her children (young adults) are both autistic, she is autistic herself, and she specialises in teaching autistic children.

Amanda has taught in mainstream primary and secondary schools, special schools, and alternative provisions. She is currently a SENCo in a mainstream secondary school in East London, and is passionate about high-quality support and education for autistic people.

Lynne Moxon is an Educational Psychologist who works as a consultant for ESPA a specialist service for autistic adults. She has just retired from her post as a senior lecturer at Northumbria University but continues to lecture on the Masters in Autism course.

Lynne trains nationally and internationally in the field of autism specialising in sex and relationship education. She is currently preparing a distance learning course on SRE for Birmingham University.

Reece M Coker is an autistic individual and a passionate autism advocate.

As a fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management, and Royal Society of Public Health, he is an experienced trainer, qualified psychologist, and sector expert within the subjects of Positive Psychology, Motivation, Organisational Development and Culture, Neurodiversity and Inclusion, and Business Management.

A senior manager within the corporate, commercial and not-for-profit sectors, Reece is passionate about learning and development at all levels. He completed his Masters in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) at Bucks New University in 2016, where his research focused on hope and fear, and is currently completing a PhD in Education and Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University with a focus on courage, anxiety, and autism.

He leads and lectures on the Positive Psychology and Autism Awareness in Practice Programmes at the PPG Autism Centre.

Debby Elley is the Co-Founder and Editor of the award-winning social enterprise AuKids magazine, a UK publication for parents of children on the spectrum. She has 17 year old twin sons with autism, one in a specialist setting and another in mainstream college.

In 2018 her book “15 Things They Forgot to Tell You About Autism” was published by Jessica Kingsley and last year her children’s book “The Ice Cream Sundae Guide to Autism”, which she co-authored with Tori Houghton, was released and quickly became a best seller.