Jess Durrett

Teaching children the skills they need now and down the road through creativity and understanding is my strength. My experience in and out of the classroom has led me to focus on my passion– working with  schools and children with unique profiles.

Since 2007, I have been coaching teachers and families to understand students with various speech and language impairments, ADHD, Autism, executive functioning challenges, anxiety disorders, developmental delays, and learning disabilities. Understanding how all developmental areas affect learning is key to unlocking student success. Helping teachers and administrators to understand this way of thinking about children has led to greater empathy and ultimately success in the classroom. Balancing these components, although challenging, is the best part of my work.

I spend time getting to know children and teachers, their styles, their strengths, and their challenges before I make suggestions based on their questions. I have accomplished bringing in school-wide initiatives with buy-in from teachers and administrators in behavior approaches, sensory and regulation intervention, schedule support, and literacy. It’s easy to walk into a classroom and see a hundred ways to make it better and more accessible to students; allowing the space for ownership takes empathy, understanding, and a trusting relationship with the teachers. 

Arriving in California in 2016, I have spent my professional time as a learning specialist sharing the world of special education: a deep understanding of students and their relationships to their learning, environment, teachers, and guardians. I am a child's most fierce advocate, and I build strong relationships to help children thrive. Effectively communicating my deep understanding of children to teachers, peers, caregivers, and to the learners themselves is my passion. Teachers, students, and parents need to have someone to trust, ask, and listen in order to guide them through the peaks and valleys of raising children.

I am a graduate of New York University’s Childhood Education and Special Education dual Master’s program and have been endorsed by the Association of Educational Therapists as a Professional Educational Therapist. For my complete CV, please visit my LinkedIn page.