Tanya Tennant Autism Training and Consultancy 

Our Story

Hi, I'm Tanya. I have been running Tanya Tennant Autism Training and Consultancy for nearly eight years now. This came about by chance when the service I had been facilitating training for ended due to funding difficulties, yet still I found myself being asked if I could provide training for several clients. I took the bull by the horns and started setting up my own business as I felt I still had so much to offer to support those living with and supporting people on the autistic spectrum.

My time in business so far has proved me so right.

I started my career in autism 25 yrs ago as a volunteer with The National Autistic Society. This was a result of the diagnosis of my son and a desire to find out more information about autism in order to help my son. Looking back I think this was the point in my life where I found my vocation.

I worked as a volunteer for a year before taking on a part time paid role. Following on from that about a year later I gained a full time position within the Education sector as a Classroom Assistant. For the next 9 years I kept this position at times filling in as acting teacher within the class I worked. One of the things that I became involved in was staff training and facilitating talks for staff based on my experience both as a parent of a child with autism and as a professional working in residential care supporting autistic children and young adults. These were a revelation and something I greatly enjoyed and so when a post came up with the NAS to provide training and support to families and individuals affected by autism, I immediately applied. Luckily once again I got the post.

For four years I worked in a team of four delivering autism seminars and one to one support to parents across Scotland called The Family Programme. This was a hugely successful programme and a role which I greatly enjoyed but unfortunately it came to a close due to funding difficulties.

When the Family Programme ended I took on a different role within the NAS. I managed several national NAS projects, overseeing the maintenance and delivery of these projects. Alongside this role I continued to fulfil previous commitments within the Family Programme as it came to its conclusion.

All the time that I was working in my new roles my mind was still filled with ideas of formulating and building a business plan with a view to providing my own autism training and consultancy services. Circumstance again dictated that my management projects began to scale back and whilst I was upset about this, the positive outcome was that I had more and more time for my dreams to become a reality.

After some pilot workshops and test marketing Tanya Tennant Autism Training and Consultancy was officially born in April 2016. Up until this point we continue to go from strength to strength.

On a personal level as I say my son was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. He is now 27 yrs old. His journey has been long and tough at times but I have never stopped believing in him and his absolute determination to be as independent as he possibly can be.

In December 2013 I also received a diagnosis of Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder. I had been wondering about it for a while and finally decided to seek a diagnosis. It has answered so many questions that I’d had about myself throughout my life. My diagnosis has let me find, understand and therefore finally be my true self.

So you could say I live and breath autism!

I've been married to my husband Mark for 27 yrs. I have two children, Dan and Rachel. My family mean the world to me and I couldn't be what I am and do what I do without their love and support.

My aim is to provide the best possible support and training that I can to anyone who needs it, I want to contribute to making the world a more autism friendly place to live in.