Strange Duck Studio

After my son was diagnosed with autism at age 2 1/2, I have spent the years immersing myself in all the various teaching methodologies available. Most of my time over the last few years has been devoted to learning more about autism teaching strategies and I've attended many speech & OT therapy sessions, conferences and courses in order to learn how to teach my son and manage his sensory profile. My background in computers has enabled me to create valuable educational resources for my son's home school as well as speech therapists and special needs educators.

My son responds very well to rewards-based teaching and a lot of positive reinforcement. We want to build up his confidence so we use homework as a time to really build his self-esteem. In terms of home schooling, we apply the principles of teaching wherever he is most comfortable - on the floor, outside, dangling from a tree - anywhere! We also try to create an environment where there is constant praise and lessons are set up to support successful completion of tasks.

I am also one of the directors of a non-profit company (NPC), Jozi 4 Autism. We are an organisation focusing on autism awareness/acceptance, social integration and accessible services. https://jozi4autism.org.za/about-us/

I have a diploma in Computer Science and I was a software developer for many years. I'm also a graphic designer in both raster & vector graphic design. These skills have been the most useful tool in starting up businesses, creating teaching resources for my son and setting up his AAC device (Grid for iPad).

All of my products have been created for use in our home school and for use by other homeschool educators, special needs educators and speech therapists.