Alison Pettitt is an Early Years specialist teacher and trainer who has both professional and personal experience of working with neurodivergent children. She has been integral in the foundation of the Equals Project (alongside Peter Imray and Sarah Binns) which supports children with learning disabilities in mainstream schools through direct work with schools, hosting network meetings and delivering practical training.
“On qualifying as a nursery / infant teacher 35 years ago I began teaching in a National Autistic Society school in Yorkshire, opening a nursery class. I continued to work in Early Years and specialist autism settings around the country before joining Reachout ASC four years ago, taking time out of my career to bring up my three severely disabled children. I am passionate about early intervention for disabled and neurodivergent children and specialise in supporting children who have severe learning difficulties and autism.
The pre-school group that I founded for parents / carers and children with SEND (in conjunction with LCC’s Family Hubs) supports children with a range of developmental differences or disabilities. I have also written and delivered training packages for schools wanting to know about the Equals Curricula, and about Early Years and Autism. I have delivered these courses for up to 60 delegates and I love being able to support school staff and associated professionals by offering practical information and strategies which positively impact children who would otherwise be struggling in mainstream settings.”
“Alison has been pivotal in getting our classroom for our autistic learners up and running. She has helped us to embed the Equals curriculum to ensure we have a robust and evidence-based way to teach our children. She continues to help us find the right resources and plan out lessons that actually work for our children. Alison is devoted to looking for ways to make our children’s lives brighter and more fun. We would be lost without her!”
We love working with Reachout ASC particularly Alison, who’s our specialist teacher who comes to our school. She is absolutely invaluable because she not only provides advice, but she also provides the resources, and she’ll go away and gets things made for us and lots of our children are making really good progress because of her advice and support.