My journey started in 1992 when I chose to study Linguistics at University. Linguistics is the study of language, this included how children develop language, and what can go wrong when learning to communicate. It was during this time that I was first introduced to Autism Spectrum Disorders. At this point, I learnt about the social communication difficulties faced by children on the spectrum along with the other two elements of the triad of impairments, but immediately I was intrigued. I knew that I wanted to work with these children at some point in my life, but I didn’t yet know how that was possible. After I had completed my degree, I spent 11 years working as a manager in the leisure industry and it was at this point where I first developed mentoring,

coaching and training skills.