About me

My story

I’m a Special Educational Needs specialist and a dyslexia expert, and I’m on a mission to make the world a more inclusive place for dyslexic people. I founded Helen’s Place to support young people to be their best self through holistic intervention, building positive working relationships with everyone involved in a child’s education.

I began my career teaching Maths and French in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. What I loved was not the subject so much as the moment a young person unpicked a problem they had believed was beyond them. That led me towards group work and confidence building, and eventually to qualifying as a Special Educational Needs Coordinator. Working part time as an SEN teacher in a mainstream school let me carry on with research and support professional bodies making systematic change in the education system.

At a national level, my work has included advising the UK Government through the Council for Science and Technology on supporting young people with specific learning difficulties, and contributing to All-Party Parliamentary Group reports presented at the House of Commons. I’m Chair of the Wiltshire Dyslexia Association, and as a former Trustee of the British Dyslexia Association I keep advocating to make the world a more inclusive place for dyslexic people.

I’m dyslexic myself, so I don’t just understand dyslexia academically. I live it. I know what it is to be the child in the room working twice as hard for half the credit, and I offer the inclusive, friendly support I wish I’d had.

I have recently been diagnosed with ADHD, which means I really do understand what it is like to be neurodivergent in a mainstream classroom!

• Podcasts and interviews
• My Churchill Fellowship
• LinkedIn profile
• Full publications list
• My research, in plain English