Heather

I am passionate about empowering individuals of all ages to master the skill of reading and I have over 20 years of experience of working 1:1 with learners to enable this to happen.

As a seasoned behaviour analyst, I have honed my expertise in evidence-based teaching methods, particularly Direct Instruction and Precision Teaching.

My individualised approach is designed to address the unique needs of learners with dyslexia, ASD, and ADHD, ensuring that each student receives personalised support to unlock their full potential. No diagnosis is necessary.

I like to collaborate with the learner and will teach them how to be their own Precision Teacher along the way.

Join me on this journey to transform the way we approach reading education, one learner at a time.

Tutoring Experience

I am a board certified behaviour analyst (BCBA) and a UK-BA (cert) who has worked with learners who have reading/memory difficulties such as dyslexia, autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) etc. I have successfully taught learners with and without challenging behaviour to read.

I have 20-years’ experience of working in schools, with children, young people, and adults who have given up on the idea of ever being able to read. I understand that learners have often had a very bad experience of being taught to read and I can also help learners to overcome these feelings about reading.

I teach learners from age four to adults to read. The lessons are adjusted to teach any age and ability to successfully learn to read.

I also teach children, young people, and adults basic maths skills, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals and percentages. Sometimes the learners have a diagnosis of dyscalculia, but no diagnosis is needed.

Tutoring Approach

Direct Instruction involves explicitly teaching the learner critical skills in the format of I do, we do, you do. We continue to practice the skill until the learner can perform the skill without help. Lessons last 30 minutes to an hour depending on the level of the learner. Each lesson contains 80% skills already taught and 20% new material. This allows repeated practice, so skills are taught to a level where they are not forgotten.

I use Precision Teaching to monitor progress and make sure skills are taught to fluency. When a learner is fluent at a skill, they can perform that skill at a speed which allows them to use the skill in functional ways. With reading, if a learner is having to sound out every word they will struggle to comprehend the sentence. If they are taught to sound out words to fluency they can read quickly and ultimately understand the text they are reading. Teaching reading to fluency takes the effort out of reading for the learner.

Daily practice is needed for learners to reach fluency. I can teach learners four out of five days a week and make progress. Less than that and learners have trouble getting information to stick. If a learner has someone who can read who is able to coach them then I can supply their coach with the information needed to assist with daily practice. I would then monitor the programme weekly. The coach could be a parent/carer, teacher/teaching assistant, or a friend/partner in the case of adults.

All Direct Instruction curricula start with a placement test. I usually conduct a short screener assessment first to allow me to place the learner at the correct level in the curriculum.

Precision Teaching helps to find missing skills that are needed to be built up to the more complex skill of reading. To be a fluent reader and ultimately a fluent comprehender learners will need to be fluent in the skills of:
• Phonemic awareness (segmenting and blending sounds into words without being able to see the letters)
• Phonics (seeing letters and being able to link the letters to the sounds they make)
• Blending phonics into words
• Reading words in sentences and passages.

Comprehension is gained when a learner can read fluently and has background knowledge about the subject they are reading.

Direct Instruction curricula are also available for both speaking and reading comprehension.