I have four and a half years experience working as a one to one special needs teaching assistant in two mainstream primary schools. I have recently started additional paid work in supporting a highly autistic child outside of school for a family who required someone to take him out for swimming once every few weeks. I have supported children with autism and global developmental delay who displayed complex learning needs in addition to physical needs. I worked closely with a Speech & Language therapist and carried out interventions on her behalf. I have experience in teaching picture exchange communication (PECS) in order to aid communication. I have an Autism Level 1 certificate, and will soon be undertaking the Level 2 certificate. I am currently supporting a seven year old girl on a full time basis as she is highly autistic and displays challenging behaviour.