Penelope Hannant

Having worked in biochemical research for a short period of time, Penelope Hannant’s career began as a class teacher progressing very quickly to senior management and ultimately headship, where she became an outstanding headteacher. During her 18 years in education she became specifically interested in how children learn and how to support any difficulties and so became a specialist teacher working in the autism outreach team, in addition to widening her skills as a speech, language and communication specialist and a specific learning difficulties assessor. Her interest led her to take further qualifications in both psychology and counselling and so her academic career began. She is now currently working as a research associate and studying for her doctorate with Dr. Sarah Cassidy at Coventry University.

• Cassidy, S., Hannant, P., Tavassoli, T., Allison, C., Smith, P., and Baron-Cohen, S. (2015) ‘Dyspraxia and autistic traits in adults with and without Autism Spectrum Conditions’. International Meeting for Autism Research 2015. held 13-16 May in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.