Who we are
The Lead Practitioner at Valuing Autism is Sam Morris. She has been an Autism Education Practitioner since graduating in 2000.
She has worked with a broad range of age groups across a range of settings: from children with autism in early years through to young adults in a residential college, mainstream and specialist provision as well as independent and maintained settings. Sam also spent time in India and Thailand, teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) and working in a special needs provision.
She holds the following qualifications (a full CV is available on request):
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BA (Hons) Psychology & Education (University of Warwick)
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Postgraduate Certificate in Asperger Syndrome (Sheffield Hallam University)
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MA Autism (Sheffield Hallam University)
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Award in Education & Training (City & Guilds)
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Level 2 Practitioner in Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy (PACT)
In addition to her professional capacities, Sam enjoys photography & film, literature, music, comedy, arts & crafts and travelling. She is a 'cat person' and really dislikes Marmite.
What we do
Sam took the lead in developing Education, Health and Care (EHC) assessments for a London Borough in 2014, before developing her skills to lead and manage the Preparing for Adulthood Team within the same SEND Service.
In 2018, new adventures beckoned and she challenged herself to develop her skills as a trainer, completing the Award in Education and Training. Working in partnership with the strategic project lead, she now delivers training to education professionals as part of the Autism Education Trust's network and trains other trainers within the programme. She also creates and delivers bespoke training packages for a range of partner organisations and professional bodies.
Sam is experienced in a range of Autism-related educational strategies, including behaviour support strategies, TEACCH and SPELL. She has undertaken extensive training with speech and language development, including PECS, Adult-Child Interaction, Makaton and Elklan.
Sam has also achieved her Level 2 accreditation in Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy (PACT).
PACT is an evidence-based approach to maximising communication skills for children aged 2-10 years.
