Jackie Wakeling

Based in Milton Keynes

Speech and Language Therapy Assistant Practitioner

I have always been a passionate communicator (talkative!). When I was 18 I moved to Paris to work as an au pair. Here I learnt very quickly that communication wasn’t just about the spoken word, and making myself understood to 4 children under 5 who couldn’t speak English nor understand my French became a very creative process!

I went on to study Modern Languages at University, followed by CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching) and spent over 15 years in multilingual environments. After years in the corporate world, I knew I needed a change. I qualified as a yoga instructor, but I also wanted to go back to a role where helping others to communicate was at the core, and so I returned to working in schools and supporting children with communication difficulties.

I am delighted to join the Magic Words team. I absolutely love working as a SALTAP. Every day is different and being able to work directly with children and young people, tailoring their therapy sessions to make it fun and relevant is such a joy, and feel such pride when I see how far they’ve come.

My favourite word is Serendipity. It means fortunate happenstance or pleasant surprise. I like to think that life is full of these. I love the melodic joyful sound of serendipity and the way the word itself sounds happy.

- EAL
- Autism
- Early years
- BA (Hons) Modern Foreign Languages French and Spanish
- CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching)
- Level 3 Understanding Autism
- Autism – Women and Girls, for practitioners
- ADHD recognising symptoms and diagnostic criteria
- Blanks Levels 1-4
- PECS
- First Aid
- Yoga Alliance qualified Yoga instructor