Sharon Gusterson

Having had a previous background of customer-facing roles where face to face and telephone liaison was at the forefront of my career, I had developed a diligent and methodical approach to my tasks. Through the early years of banking and retail, my effective communication skills became my strongest asset.

In 1995 after my first son was born, I chose to concentrate my efforts on being a homemaker and full-time Mum. After my second son had turned 18 months, I quickly realised that he was displaying traits of Autism and he was diagnosed as such at the age of 2 in 2005.

I decided to learn as much as I could about Autism and remained a full-time Mother and took every available course I could through his school having completed the National Autistic Society's Early Bird course, Makaton and PECS courses and learned about the various teaching methods for children and young people with Special Educational Needs.

After a move to Colchester and my son's progression from an Autism specific education to a broader SEN based school, I became an advocate for SEN provision in schools and in the community. During that time, regrettably,I had to negotiate my way through two very difficult illnesses. Once well enough, I became an admin support for his sports coach who had started his own disability sports club of which I am an active and voluntary club secretary and director.

I took a position as a sales executive at Total Clean in May 2023 and have successfully navigated my way through the role, enhancing my customer service skills, elevating my administration skills, improving my MS Office capabilities across all areas and have a developed a wealth of skills useable in the workplace.