Working with education settings, parents and carers to ensure their autistic young people are nurtured and affirmed.

Charlotte Mountford founded Badger Education in order to effect change for autistic young people in the education system. She is passionate about ensuring that autistic young people are nurtured and affirmed in whatever education setting they are able to access.

Based in the North East of England, she has over 20 years experience teaching autistic young people in the full range of settings from mainstream to special needs schools to additionally resourced provisions both in the UK and overseas. She has 5 years experience as a peripatetic autism advisory teacher working for two different local authorities visiting different settings to develop staff skills in order to provide the best education for their autistic pupils. This included observing pupils and sharing observations, designing and delivering staff training courses both in person and online, modelling strategies to staff, working one to one with young people to understand themselves better, engaging with parents and carers, supporting sensory needs and more.

Charlotte has a Masters of Education degree in Autism in children from the University of Birmingham and the NASENCO award. She has lived experience as part of a neurodivergent household balancing everyone's needs in order to maintain regulation. Charlotte has a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw on. She is able to lead other professionals to develop their skills, knowledge and practice to become more inclusive, particularly in light of the increasing level of pupil need that settings are experiencing. Charlotte is also very experienced and skilled in supporting parents, carers and families to recognise their own expertise, advocate successfully for their young person, develop their knowledge and maintain regulation without becoming overwhelmed.