My professional background is in working with deaf people in a wide range of different domains including third sector, education, community, police and court work.  I have specialised in working with deaf children and adults with additional complex communication needs for over 30 years.

I am a qualified Registered Witness Intermediary with the Ministry of Justice providing communication support for deaf adults and children throughout their involvement with the police and the courts. I work with both victims and witnesses with a range of physical and learning disabilities from a wide range of social and ethnic backgrounds

I have considerable experience and knowledge of working practices in family courts and mental health tribunals. I also work very closely with professionals such as psychiatrists, psychologists, family therapists, solicitors, barristers, speech therapists, audiologists, teachers of the deaf and social workers. I am passionate about empowering Deaf people to enable them to make informed choices.

As well as working as a Registered Intermediary, a role which entails supporting individuals, I also work as a Deaf Relay Interpreter – a role which entails language modification (without additional personal support) for deaf people who have complex communication skills.  Most of my experience lies in the police and court domains supporting deaf individuals with complex language needs and/or those who are not fluent in British Sign Language and are therefore unable to understand an ordinary British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. 

Being deaf myself, I have a wealth of personal experience in working with people who use idiosyncratic, non-standard signs or gestures and I am able recognise their individual life experiences and cultural differences.