Type of service: Befriending/mentoring

Website: https://www.asperger-training.com/karen-anne-manghan

Karen was diagnosed as autistic in 2014, which affords her an intrinsic understanding of her clients and the barriers they often face; she also brings over 20 years of pastoral support experience to her specialist mentoring work, training and public speaking.

Karen initially trained as a Psychodynamic Counsellor, achieving an advanced certificate in Counselling Skills and Theory, before starting her career in educational support in 2002. Karen is accredited as a Specialist Mental Health Mentor by UMHAN, delivers training and supervision for the mentors involved with the NDSA peer mentoring programmes, provides career specific mentoring for Autism Forward and holds a Pg Cert in Autism. Karen specialises in working with Young People between the ages of 16 – 30, specifically to manage educational or employment transitions, or support individuals and families pre and post diagnosis. Karen has an excellent track record of supporting her clients into appropriate and successful educational placements, apprenticeships and jobs.

Karen has worked in many different settings supporting autistic young people and adults, including delivering and running therapeutic support services at a Further Education college, Guidance management at a Sixth Form college, running Sussex wide Youth Work projects, Specialist Mentoring at a University and since 2009, as an independent autism and mental health mentor. Karen also set up, secured funding for, and ran the first Social Club specifically for autistic young people in Sussex.

Karen has been delivering Autism awareness training since 2010; some of her clients include The University of Birmingham, Bird and Blend Tea co, Diageo, The NHS, Relate and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland.

Karen is also a qualified Pilates teacher and the founder of Pilates for Neuro-diversity, Karen specialises in teaching the Pilates method to autistic clients, either in a group or one to one setting. Karen has recently delivered a presentation to the autism peer support group at Axia in Chester, written about how Pilates can be beneficial for autistic people for Autism Health and Wellbeing, and completed training in the Integrated Movement Method (IMM) with the EDS Society and Movement Specialist Jeannie Di Bon. Please contact Karen directly if you are interested in joining a class, or to arrange one to one teaching.
 

Aimed at: Adolescent , Adult

Gender: All genders

Specialisms: Exclusively autism specific