Melissa Packwood has devoted her life to teaching. She found a renewed sense of purpose after opening her own business and working with children who have special needs and their families to provide positive and meaningful educational experiences. As a mother to three children with special needs, she has seen the benefits of providing enriching experiences though this often means thinking outside of the box.
Melissa's experience includes working in public schools, teaching ESOL, and tutoring students with special needs. She holds a master’s degree in reading and literacy and an ESE graduate certificate from Walden University. She has a current Florida teaching certificate which includes Early Childhood, Reading, and ESOL endorsements. Her goal is to enrich the lives of others by educating schools and families about ESE students' rights as well as by helping schools and universities become more developmentally appropriate for ESE students' individual needs.
Topics often requested include educational models, discipline, sensory rich environments, pathological demand avoidance, autism, down syndrome, behavior challenges, ways to support ese students in college, parent encouragement and support, and more!
Melissa believes that there is a way for every student to learn and it is the job of the teacher to find that way. Together we will create an even better education system by working with the differences in learning styles of students using developmentally appropriate practices.