Special Education Consultant Team

If you choose to enroll your child with special needs in the SelfDesign Special Education program, we will work with your family as your Special Education Team.

The Special Education Learning Consultant (SE LC) is your family’s primary contact, support, and resource person in SelfDesign once the application process is complete. She is your learner’s SelfDesign Learning Consultant; in addition, she collaborates with your family to write, review, and update your child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) at regular intervals throughout the year. The SE LC also provides ongoing support to both you and the support services providers involved with your child’s Special Education program. Her role includes consulting with the community professionals who are working with your child, reading reports from support services providers, and helping parents find suitable support services providers according to the IEP.

SelfDesign’s Special Education Consultant Team (in alphabetical order) includes:

Mary Denholm Family Orientation Consultant for the Low Incidence Special Education Program/Special Education Consultant
Mary’s formal education includes a BA(Hon) in Psychology, a BEd and a Specialist Certificate in Special Education (Ontario Ministry of Education). Before her children were born, she worked for 13 years as a special needs teacher, in a wide variety of settings. For the past 15 years, her work has involved being a Learning Consultant for SelfDesign, tutoring, leading preschool and parent-and-tot classes, providing licensed child care and running a horse-and-carriage business.

Angela Fitzgerald Special Education Learning Consultant
Angela’s interest in Special Education was sparked when, as a teen, she read Torey Hayden’s books. This prompted Angela to choose the teaching profession as a career path, with specific interest in Special Education. Attendance at the T.A.S.H. conference in Boston was a highlight of Angela’s early teaching years, and eventually led her to pursue further formal education in the field resulting in a DipEd in Counselling Psychology. In her five years of working in public schools, Angela supported learners in High and Low Incidence classrooms, and also worked as a Learning Assistance teacher. Having children of her own changed Angela’s perspective around optimal learning environments/relationships for children, and she began researching alternatives. Thanks to SelfDesign, Angela has been happily engaged in meaningful relationship with homelearning families for the last five years.

Kathleen Forsythe Vice Principal for the Special Education Program/Special Education Learning Consultant
A passionate educator, Kathleen has worked with learners of all ages. For the past couple of years, Kathleen has been supporting children with autism and has recently begun a program in Vancouver, with Singing English founder, Dr. Fleurette Sweeney. She has recently begun to train in Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s Floortime DIR technique for children with autism. She brings her knowledge of the biology of cognition and the biology of love to her work with families.

 

Colin Fox Special Education Learning Consultant
Colin’s formal education includes a BA in Human Kinetics and English from the University of British Columbia and BEd from the West Kootenay Teacher Education program (an affiliate of UBC). He joined Self Design as a Learning Consultant in 2002, and after working in conjunction with SE learners beginning in 2009, has expanded his work to the Special Education program for the 2011-2012 learning year.

 

 

Wendy Haley Special Education Learning Consultant Wendy Haley comes to SelfDesign with five years of full time Special Education teaching experience in California and Hawaii. Wendy became interested in working with Special Education students after working as an Instructional Assistant at a community college in Visalia, California. She found that she had a natural gift of making students feel comfortable and successful. She went on to receive her Bachelor’s in Education and her teaching credential in Special Education from California State University. Wendy worked as a Special Day Class teacher in an Elementary school in California for 3 years where she gained wonderful experience working with children with Autism, Down’s Syndrome, Asperger’s Syndrome, and other health impairments. It was at this time where Wendy increased her knowledge in using such tools as; Visual Schedules, Social Stories and Picture Exchange Communication. As well, she utilized many ABA techniques to help children become more successful in the classroom and to increase positive behaviour. When Wendy moved to Kona, Hawaii, she worked as a High School Special Education teacher of students with Learning Disabilities. She taught English, Algebra and Resource Chemistry, Physics and Biology. Wendy has a passion for helping students regain the confidence they may have lost and helping them to discover the best way in which they learn.

Angela Kinsella-Jones Special Education Learning Consultant
Originally qualifying as a teacher in England in 1975, Angela later earned her Bachelors degree in Social Sciences and Information Technology in 2005 from the Open University. During her teaching career she has worked with children possessing a wide range of special needs and led school development seminars. Living in Africa she taught in an International School, and English to adults. Moving to Canada, she first volunteered with Literacy Nanaimo, working in schools and the bookstore. Her love of literacy and history led to work as press officer for Nanaimo District Museum. When she began working with Self Design in 2008 as a tutor she realized that this was a learning environment where children really mattered, so she joined as Learning Consultant and is now a Special Education Consultant.

Thea Miscavish Special Education Learning Consultant
Thea received her Bachelor of Education degree, with a concentration in Remedial Methodology, from the University of Victoria. Thea has experience with teaching learners of all ability levels and has taught grades one through six (including physical education, resource instruction and technology) in both British Columbia and Alberta. Throughout her career, Thea has enthusiastically advocated and embraced the inclusion of children with various special needs in her many leadership roles including coach, recreational leader, and classroom teacher. She enjoys collaborating with parents and learners to develop interesting, attainable goals and meaningful Individual Education Plans. Creatively developing adaptations and modifications for learners is one of her strengths. She enjoys promoting success for all learners and recognizes that everyone learns differently. Thea values her work with SelfDesign Learning Community as a Learning Consultant, Special Education Learning Consultant and Special Education Assistant (SEA). She is grateful for the meaningful relationships that she has developed with her learners and their families, recognizing that she learns as much from them as they do from her.

Shelagh Noonan Manager of the Special Education Program/Special Education Learning Consultant
Shelagh acts as Manager for the Special Ed team as well as a Special Ed. Learning Consultant. Shelagh has served in a variety of capacities in SelfDesign during her seven years in the SelfDesign Learning Community – from Learning Consultant to supporting the various administrative proces ses and tasks that help the SelfDesign regular program to run smoothly. In respect to Special Education experience, Shelagh worked with adults and children with disabilities for several years, both in New York and in Vancouver, and has taken various Special Education courses within her BEd degree (UBC). She also holds a BA from UPEI.

Evelyne Penny Special Education Learning Consultant
Evelyne has worked in the field of Special Education since 1999 with both adults and children.  Evelyne holds a Bachelor of Arts (English), a Bachelor of Education (k-12), a TESOL certificate, and a Master’s of Education (Special Education). Evelyne joined SD in 2010 and is loving her role as a Special Education Learning Consultant. Evelyne also teaches fitness classes and weight room orientations.

 

 

Kathy Rollheiser High Incidence Special Education Program Co-ordinator/Special Education Learning Consultant
In 1981, Kathy received her degree in Education from the Institute of Child Developm ent, an innovative Special Education facility, at the University of Saskatchewan. She received a diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Vancouver Community College in 2002, and her Master’s in Education from the University of Victoria in 2004. The focus of her Master’s degree was in diagnostic and prescriptive teaching for children with learning disabilities. Kathy was a special education teacher for 15 years before leaving to work as a private educational consultant in 1999.

Heidi Serra Special Education Learning Consultant
In 1996 Heidi graduated from Trent University as a Psychology major, then moved to Vancouver and completed her Montessori teacher training, followed by her Early Childhood Education as she worked with adults and children with disabilities to pay her way through school. She worked for 2 years in the Vancouver school district as a Special Education Assistant, and then moved to Salt Spring where she ran her own Montessori preschool for 5 years. Then, she attended York University’s Urban Diversity Teacher Education Program where she earned her B.Ed. working in inner city schools. Heidi is currently teaching Music in the Gulf Islands School District, and is enrolled in a special education course through Athabasca University.

Donna Vanderlip Special Education Learning Consultant
Donna’s training and education has been primarily in Special Education and Literacy. She hasa diploma in Early Childhood Education for the Developmentally Handicapped and an Honours BA from the University of Toronto in Psychology and Art and Art History. She completed a specialist qualification in Special Education through the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and worked on a Masters Degree in Psychology and Education through Norwich University in Vermont. She has been a teacher in the public system for 15 years and for 4 years taught in independent international schools.

Kerry Watson Special Education Learning Consultant
Kerry’s background is in special education, counseling and recreation. She has degrees in psychology and education, a professional diploma in special education and has been working with kids of all ages for almost 20 years. She has training in a variety of areas including expressive play therapies, the Provincial Outreach Program for Autism and Related Disorders, French, ESL and as a yoga teacher for kids and youth.

 

Special Education Administrative Support

• Kathleen Forsythe – Vice Principal
• Shelagh Noonan – Special Education Program Manager
• Kathy Rollheiser – High Incidence Special Ed Program Co-ordinator
• Mary Denholm – Low Incidence Family Orientation Consultant
• Amalia Cook – Special Education Office Administrator

Please read the information in our Special Education Frequently Asked Questions.

If you have further questions about the program or you plan to enroll your child in SelfDesign and you feel your child’s needs meet the funding criteria, please email our Special Education Team.