Dr Tereza Aidonopoulou

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Tereza has worked in education for the past 21 years. She started off as a TEFL teacher in 1998 and worked in the UNESCO Centre for Women and Peace in the Balkan Countries before moving to England and training as a Teacher of English. Once qualified, she worked as an English and Drama teacher with secondary school students in a variety of mainstream settings in London. When Tereza moved to England it was to pursue her passion to work with special needs students, therefore she studied for and MA in Special Needs (Inclusion and Disability Studies) in the Institute of Education (University of London) and BSL levels 1 and 2. Once fully qualified, Tereza was appointed as a Teacher of Special Needs in a school for students with communication difficulties and worked for a number of years with students that had autism, severe learning difficulties and moderate learning difficulties. She also worked in primary and early years settings before pursuing a career in higher education. Tereza studied for a PhD on formative assessment and students with autism and severe learning difficulties at the time that she was employed as a special needs teacher, while also gaining experience in higher education by working as a module tutor in various higher education establishments. She is currently employed in the University of Northampton as a Senior Lecturer in the SEN and Inclusion department and the MA SEN and Inclusion Programme Leader. She engages in various research projects with focus on individuals with autism in higher education, employment, excluded students and deaf and hard of hearing students.