Executive Committee
Ros Lehany – Chair
I currently work part time at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds where l am involved in the whole student experience from the audition through screening, assessment, applications for DSA, support on placements, 1:1 and group support and eventually support for transition into the workplace.
Previously I worked for Dyslexia Action in Leeds. As the Adult Dyslexia Coordinator I worked with dyslexic adults in a variety of settings including the workplace and education. As an independent consultant I now deliver training to staff in other educational establishments and carry out assessments to support DSA applications.
I became involved with ADSHE in 2005 and chaired the ADSHE working party on Quality Assurance in Specialist Support for Students with SpLDs in HE which produced guidelines in 2008 (revised 2009). I have served on the Executive Committee since 2006 firstly as Membership Secretary and then as Chair. The past few years have seen considerable upheaval and uncertainty in the sector but in recent times ADSHE has been able to make a real and positive contribution to the decision-making process. I feel very strongly that our professional voice should continue to be heard at the highest level. I believe that ADSHE has an equally important role to play for the individual specialist tutor by keeping them informed, recognizing their expertise and reducing their isolation. ADSHE is now active at both national and regional levels but there is still a lot to do.
Email: ros.lehany@nscd.ac.uk
Sally Freeman – Deputy Chair
I work as a Dyslexia Specialist at Nottingham Trent University where I provide one to one specialist support, initial assessments, top up assessments for the DSA and regular staff development sessions. I am fortunate to work in a team of Dyslexia Specialists and with an excellent full time Administrator. I am a member of the very active Midlands ADSHE Group which meets regularly. I have served on the Executive Committee of ADSHE since September 2007 initially as a Regional Rep and for the last three as Deputy Chair. I am delighted that ADSHE continues to grow in both membership and recognition from fellow professionals and stakeholder colleagues across the sector. ADSHE can justifiably celebrate its growing national significance to our members most importantly, but also to the other major players in providing specialist support to students with SpLDs in HE. 2012 sees the organisation entering its second decade. I am pleased to be part of the Executive and the various sub groups. These are newly formed to address the increasing challenges facing the sector as we seek to maintain the ADSHE mission first established in 2001.
Email: sally.freeman@ntu.ac.uk
Kate Dresser – Treasurer
Dyslexia Co-ordinator, Cardiff University and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. I have been Dyslexia Co-ordinator since 1996, during which time the service has expanded greatly – both in numbers and resources. With the establishment of Cardiff Assessment Centre I have been able to cast aside my needs assessor hat with immense relief and can once again concentrate on the needs of students with SpLD. However, the managerial and networking experience I have gained within the wider umbrella of disability has given me a better understanding of the context within which dyslexia specialists operate in HE. For the past year I have been attending ADSHE meetings in London , acting as an informal link between ADSHE and the Welsh regional group.
Email: dresser@cf.ac.uk
Julia Kender – Deputy Treasurer
I have worked across all sectors of education and for the past 10 years have worked in further and higher education, as a lecturer, a manager in additional services provision and as a dyslexia specialist assessor and tutor. I have long-standing interests in access and inclusion and recognise the need to equip staff with specialist knowledge and skills to enable them keep abreast of the demands placed on them by political and legislative developments while addressing the very particular and individual needs of all learners. I am committed to working collaboratively within the HE sector to promote best practice within an inclusive learning environment.
Email: j.kender@soton.ac.uk
Judy Turner - Representative on SASC
I have a great interest in learning development in students and academics and passionately believe in providing the support necessary to enable students to develop as independent learners and to achieve their personal potential in higher education. At present I work as a chartered psychologist assessing individuals for specific learning difficulties at the University of Reading. I also provide training in specific learning difficulties for academics and am involved in policy development for disability within the university. I started the Thames Valley local ADSHE group and nurtured it for two years. I particularly value the way in which ADSHE facilitates a discourse and better understanding between dyslexia tutors and psychologists. In my earlier life I was a research fellow in experimental psychology at York, Durham and Reading mainly researching memory, aphasia and infant vision. I believe I could make a valuable contribution to the continued development of ADSHE as a significant national organisation.
Email: j.e.turner@reading.ac.uk
John Conway – Website & Jiscmail co-ordinator
I am the Disability Officer at the Royal Agricultural College, a post I created in 1999, initiating and managing the support provision for all disabled students and also responsible for developing inclusive teaching, learning and assessment strategies. About 20% of RAC students are dyslexic. As a full time academic I also have a direct impact on teaching and assessment methods through ex-officio membership of the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Committee as well as contributing to a project team working to develop holistic student support services. I also sit on the Academic Board. I represent the RAC on what used to be the AimHigher West Disability Strand [we are continuing our outreach work as a group without government funding or oversight]. I believe very strongly in the right of every student to access education according to their abilities and not to be restricted by disabilities. I joined the NADP board in 2006, and the National Executive of ADSHE in 2009 to try and drive this agenda forward. this is my second term of office for both organisations. I manage the JISCmail e-forums and website for ADSHE.
Email: John.Conway@rac.ac.uk
Mary Edelmann – Freelance tutor representative
Having worked in primary and secondary education for over twenty years, holding a number of roles of responsibility including teacher governor, head of year and SENCo, I finally made it to HE in 2006. I currently work part-time at Roehampton University, alongside a great team of specialist dyslexia support tutors providing 1:1 and group support tailored to the specific needs of the dyslexic student, screenings and drop in sessions for the non DSA students, workshops and staff development sessions to increase awareness of the difficulties some students with a disability or SpLD may encounter in HE. I also undertake assessments and provide tutorial support for dyslexic students on a freelance basis.
While studying at the Dyslexia Institute (now Dyslexia Action) I undertook the role of course representative for two years. This entailed extensive liaison with fellow students and course directors; as well as attending meeting in central London. I feel that my previous experience would enable me to take on the role of freelance tutor representative; which I see as an exciting opportunity to provide a link between ADSHE and the freelance tutors who may be working in relative isolation across the country.
Email: maryedelmann@BTINTERNET.COM
Sandra Falshaw – regional group representative
For over 13 years (doesn’t time fly!) I have really enjoyed my role as a dyslexia support tutor at Leeds Metropolitan University. This is largely individual tuition but for a number of years I have also been involved in running study skills groups for dyslexic students. As this is a part time post I also undertake diagnostic assessments on a self employed basis. I really believe that we have so much expertise to share and offer that regional and national meetings are a wonderful way of doing this. I was very happy to be a founder member of the ADSHE North, watch it grow and flourish, and subsequently coordinate the group. I know many tutors are working in isolation and so regional contact and networking are particularly important. This is now my fourth term of office as ADSHE Regional Representative in which time I have seen regional membership grow extensively and how members value the meetings and take away so much from them.
Email:S.Falshaw@leedsmet.ac.uk
email S.Falshaw@leedsmet.ac.uk
Jamie Crabb -
I have worked in the secondary and higher education Sector for the past 7 years. My roles have included Project Coordinator for the Metropolitan Police Service Haringey Safer Schools Project; tutor/lecturer on the BA (Hons.) Drama, Applied Theatre and Education at the Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD) University of London, and as a Specialist Dyslexia Support Tutor and Assistive Technology Trainer for CSSD/freelance. I will take over the role of Disability Coordinator (maternity cover) at CSSD from November 2010. I have worked collaboratively with Central’s Dyslexia Co-ordinator to streamline the screening process, developed the feedback procedure after students have been assessed, and designed promotional material for the Service. Currently I have been funded to develop a series of step-by-step guides for freeware which will be accessed through the School’s intranet.
My personal and academic interests include performance-based arts practice, social sciences, philosophy and applied theatre (community, social and theatre in education), disability theory and inclusive practice, Neurodiversity, Assistive Technologies and student centred pedagogical approaches. I am passionate about my work in student support and draw from a Neurodiverse perspective and metacognative approach to encourage the exploration of creative study skills approaches integrating assistive technology to encourage and enable individual student success. ADSHE has been an invaluable resource and network and I am keen to bring my skills and experience to support the work of the Executive committee.
email Jamie.Crabb@cssd.ac.uk
Emily Coote - member without portfolio
For the past 4 years I have worked at Brunel University as a Dyslexia Adviser. My role includes advising about DSA and other support issues, dyslexia screening and assessment, support on placement, study skills, transition into the workplace and staff development. I also set up and co-ordinate an intro2Uni day for prospective disabled students which offers them the opportunity to sample university life and discuss their support needs prior to starting on their course. For the past three years I have delivered the ‘dyslexia awareness’ lectures on the PGCE Primary course. My previous experience of working as primary school teacher and behaviour support teacher for 7 years, prior to training as a dyslexia specialist and moving into the field of Higher Education, has put me in quite a unique position where I have gained knowledge and skills across the whole spectrum of education. Within H.E, my work as an adviser and a study skills tutor has allowed me to see current issues from both perspectives and enhances not only my own role but my understanding of the roles of others.
One of my proudest achievements to date was setting up the Dyslexia Network at Brunel which offers students with SpLDs the opportunity to meet once a week to chat to each other about any issues they are having at university or any strategies they have found useful during their time here. The concept was awarded the Times Higher Education Award 2008 for Outstanding Support for Disabled Students along with a support group set up for students with mental health conditions. I regularly attend ADSHE meetings in London and am part of the Thames Valley regional group. I have found them to be very friendly and supportive environments in which to share ideas and concerns and to build on my professional knowledge and expertise.
Email emily.coote@brunel.ac.uk
Kathy Smith - Scottish Representative
email Kathy.Smith@ed.ac.uk
Julia Tait – southern group representative
For the past seven years I have worked as Dyslexia Co-ordinator and senior adviser for dyslexic/spld students at Oxford Brookes University. I also work freelance as an assessor. Previously, I set up the Oxford Access Centre based at the College of FE after working for several years as Dyslexia Co-ordinator and Basic Skills Tutor at Oxford College of Further Education.
During the past seven years, in addition to my work as co-ordinator and adviser, I’ve enjoyed expanding the team, writing and project managing our web-site, commissioning a short film on our services, teaching sessions on dyslexia awareness for the Post-Compulsory Cert Ed, running awareness sessions on dyslexia/spld and collaborating with others to set up an Assistive Technology Room at Brookes. I’ve also enjoyed being a joint founder member of the Thames Valley Regional Group.
email jtait@brookes.ac.uk
Tanya Zybutz
I have been working with dyslexic students in H.E. since 1993, having graduated from Ellen Morgan’s inaugural post-graduate training course run at the then University of North London. I have gone on to run the course while Ellen was on Sabbatical and my areas of specialist interest within the field really have their origins in my work there.
I was a founder member of ADSHE, holding a variety of posts on several Executive Committees. I was a member of the working party on Quality Assurance in Specialist Support for Students with SpLDs in HE which produced Guidelines based on the core 7 Principles (2008; 2009R). Currently I am part of the working party on Quality Assurance focusing on developing peer supervision models and self-audit tools for individual tutors and institutions.
As a peripatetic tutor I have worked at University of North London/London Metropolitan University, Westminster University, set up the dyslexia support service at Queen Mary University of London and Central School of Speech and Drama where I currently hold the post of Dyslexia co-ordinator and work with a team of 6 peripatetic tutors.
Special areas of interest: the screening process; quality assurance of 1:1 support, especially Professional Peer Supervision (PPS); working with dyspraxic and dyslexic actors; incorporating mindfulness techniques within 1:1 specialist work
email : Tanya.Zybutz@cssd.ac.uk