An interview with Giselle Ruoss

Careers Adviser Giselle Ruoss has a presentation ready to give to people who believe their life will be defined by disability. It’s titled “My life in ten pictures,” and features action-packed photos: one of Giselle skydiving for charity, one of her riding pillion on a superbike in Australia; a hot-air balloon flight over the Serengeti, a modelling shoot.

Giselle joined Adviza as a SEND Careers Adviser after qualifying with a Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development. She also runs her own company, Outside The Box Education, where she inspires individuals to succeed in education and employment, provides tuition in a variety of GCSE, A-level and degree subjects and offers motivational speeches and diversity training. She has a BA in English and Social Science, a Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Education and had begun studying for a Master’s degree when she joined Adviza. 

Giselle hasn’t let her cerebral palsy define her; instead, her positivity defines how she supports SEND students. She doesn’t write in her sessions: she uses an electric wheelchair, and laughs when she says it would take her two months to write her Christmas cards.

“I became a Careers Adviser because I love teaching, and with my background people ask me about employment a lot so it made sense,” she says. “How you respond to any challenge depends on you and the support you’re given. If fifty people have the same experience, some will interpret it positively and some negatively. I can do a lot to help people view things positively.“ She is stubborn, which she says she gets from her parents. “They were encouraged to put me into care, but they didn’t. I’ve been employed since I was 23, because of their example and because they chose to treat me as they would any other child.”

Supporting SEND students

I want to encourage parents, teachers and professionals to learn about the child, not the disability...an approach of ‘what can you do?’ puts a student’s abilities to the forefront, instead of their disability.

Giselle’s experience has had a profound impact on how she supports SEND students in schools. Her philosophy is to look at career options, or help them move closer to independence or a life they want, by looking at what they can do instead of what they can’t. This means flipping the traditional approach to SEND education on its head.

“I grew tired of people asking, talking and thinking about what I couldn’t do when I was at school,” she says. “SEND students get that treatment all the time. I want to encourage parents, teachers and professionals to learn about the child, not the disability. I am not dismissing the disability; it needs to be acknowledged and accommodated. But an approach of ‘what can you do?’ puts a student’s abilities to the forefront, instead of their disability.”

Sympathetic communication is key

When working with students who have profound difficulties communicating, Giselle is adaptable. “I’ve had classes where three-quarters of students are non-verbal, and the teachers were asking me how I can encourage non-verbal students to be interested in careers,” she says. “But I use posters with ‘I CAN’ in the middle and we write down or use pictures showing what they can do. And if teachers ask me what that has to do with careers, I say the next part is that we look at options based around what they can do. It’s not always a career, sometimes it’s about having a more fulfilling life based around hobbies and interests.”

Finding your why

To succeed with students who are low on confidence or hope, Giselle starts with their passion: she asks them what they love. It might be gardening, IT, or photography. “Whatever your hobbies are, is something we can talk about trying to go further in,” she says. She has a photographer friend who is completely non-verbal and sells his photos: another example, alongside her own, that she can provide to students.

He had always assumed he couldn’t work or do anything that felt like a purpose because he can’t speak.

Her students can and do achieve breakthroughs. “One young man, who communicated to me by pointing to letters on a board, loved working with film," she says. “So I suggested that he upload some of his work onto YouTube. He cried at the idea because to him it was a revelation; he felt he had no purpose, but having a YouTube channel might eventually give him an income, even if it takes a while. He had always assumed he couldn’t work or do anything that felt like a purpose because he can’t speak.”

See the disability but don’t have tunnel vision

You need to see their disability: it can’t be ignored. But there’s no reason why a disability has to rule you out of everything.

 

Giselle believes that a positive approach to SEND careers guidance and education can change lives and create a paradigm shift in what we might assume is possible. She encourages parents, carers and teachers to reframe how they think about SEND students. As she says, “You need to see their disability: it can’t be ignored. But there’s no reason why a disability has to rule you out of everything.” 

 

Thanks to Giselle for her time and thoughts. 

 

Learn more about our Careers Guidance service.

 

21 May, 2024