Profile
Beth Wicks - Qualified as a teacher in 1972 and between then and 1985 worked in both mainstream primary and secondary schools, including special needs teaching.
She first worked with children with acquired brain injuries in 1985 as a hospital teacher.
She then transferred to a special school for children with physical disabilities as part of a multidisciplinary team to set up a new unit for children with cerebral palsy, based on the Hungarian system of Conductive Education.
She returned to hospital-based education to set up dedicated educational provision for young people with neurological illnesses or injuries. This involved working closely with medical Consultants in the fields of paediatric neurology, neurosurgery and oncology and as part of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation team, with nurses, therapists, neuropsychologists and play specialists. The post involved co-ordination of rehabilitation programmes, with therapies "timetabled" into the school day and sometimes taking place within a classroom situation or in conjunction with teaching programmes. It also involved detailed educational assessments and recommendations regarding the educational needs of these young people for their schools, Local Education Authorities and educational psychologists. Advice and in-service training was provided on an ongoing and sometimes long term basis for schools to which these children returned.
Whilst in the above post, she also fulfilled the role of Special Educational Needs Coordinator for the whole school.
She completed a Diploma in Education Inquiry, which included a study of "The needs of children with acquired neurological damage in mainstream schools."
She became Head of Education in a Hospital and Home Education Service and managed a base providing education for patients in a child and adolescent psychiatric unit.
Beth Wicks now works as an independent Education Consultant, providing specialist assessments, reports, and recommendations regarding young people and working with schools and education authorities in a training and advisory capacity.
She has provided presentations for many major national and international conferences and seminars.
She has written and contributed to publications regarding the educational needs of young people with acquired brain injuries.
Beth Wicks was Chair and founder of a local Family Support Group for the Child Brain Injury Trust and has run a teenage support group. She was Chair of the national charity, Acquire for 5 years and a trustee of Headway, the brain injury association.