My first child was diagnosed autistic in 2008, the time when I had just started my teacher training. It was difficult for me to continue to teach and support other children whilst knowing my son was struggling so much in school and receiving no help. After graduating, I started my own business tutoring children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and simultaneously removed my son from school and home educated him.
After a successful but extremely scary jump into the world of home-education, it was clear that my son was able to heal and grow in environments that were suitable for him. It wasn’t long until my daughter, who is two years younger than my son asked if she too, could be home-educated. Life slowed down in a way that made everything we did meaningful. Most importantly we got to prioritise our time.
Our timetable (yes, we had timetables) allowed us a generous three hours at the start of the day for a bike ride through the woods to the local playground next to a winding river that if followed, took us back home. Once back, we would do some Maths and then prepare for lunch. Lunch was always cheerily created and gratefully received. After that, usually we would watch a documentary; normally something political or environmental and we would all take great pride in trying to help whatever cause we learned about.
decided to start up my own centre for children that were in the same position as my son. That centre ended up being registered as an independent special school on the outskirts of London, which was subsequently awarded with a ‘Good’ rating by Ofsted in 2021.
My vision for the school was simple – to enable children with SEND to have good memories of school. If they were happy and had their needs met, everything else would fall into place – and it did for many. However, I quickly realised that as student numbers grew, fewer provisions for our school-leavers were available. I decided at this point to start up a gardening company to address this issue and provide work placements for autistic people under my supervision and coaching. I didn’t realise at the time how beneficial gardening would be for all of us. The people that worked with me gained so much more than anyone ever expected and from then on, I knew I wanted to do more of the same, much more!
Fast forward to now, after purchasing a beautiful house in France with a few acres of land that will be used as a small-holding, my family and I want to support autistic people to learn how to be self-sufficient but also be employable. The skills needed to grow food, build outbuildings, craft tools and maintain land etc. are all transferable in other fields of work but are also skills that can be used to start up small businesses. As an entrepreneur myself, I know how self-employment can often work out well for autistic people due to the nature of the autonomy it allows for. I find joy in giving others the confidence to make a living out of their special interests – especially if that also connects them with nature.
My ability to lead, inspire and support people in new ventures also makes me a great fit for consultancy, which is why I set up Neuroinclusivity Consultancy Ltd. recently. My husband (ASD techie) regularly points out the failures in the industry that make his (and the many other autistic employees’) work so difficult. I now advise companies how to make simple changes to the way they run their businesses to allow autistic people to shine, rather than meltdown. I have really enjoyed this work and the quick turn-arounds that have been apparent have really helped my networking due to word-of-mouth recommendations.
As my gardening and consultancy work are both part-time, I am looking for more of the same kind of work that resonates with my own visions of how all types of people and businesses can thrive with support.