About Us

Our Mission

Our mission is to help our clients experience joy in learning and life by addressing the neurodevelopmental and educational issues getting in their way.

People of all ages can experience a more fulfilling life when their underlying neurological differences are recognised and addressed. They can take advantage of their differences that offer unique opportunities.

At Oxford Specialist Tutors we help you or your child do both: We show you how to support the disorganised systems for an easier, happier life. Then we work together to discover the best approach to learning for each individual.

Our goal is to make ourselves redundant… to support our clients’ lifelong independence.

Our Programs

Firm Foundations for Learning, our neurodevelopmental and educational program, has three main components.

A neurodevelopmental program, to address the body-brain-senses over a period of six months. When we address the underlying issues, we see faster and more permanent results. We take our clients through tasks in a structured assessment to learn how they do what they do. We offer an explanation and summary of our findings, and guide the clients (and family, as needed) in a home program.
Specialist tutoring, AKA learning strategies, tailored to the individual differences identified through the neurodevelopmental work.
Workshops where all involved are welcome: parents, teen clients, support people.

We also have an Early Starters program for children who cannot sit through a structured assessment. In this program we focus on supporting their neurodevelopment through a home program of exercises and we don’t engage in specialist tutoring.

Our Team

Our team comprises highly qualified providers dedicated to understanding and addressing unique learning styles. Combining extensive professional training, personal experience with neurodiversity, and a deep commitment to individualized education, our providers work passionately to make learning accessible, effective, and enjoyable for every learner. We live on four different continents, and this allows us to meet your schedule wherever you are.

Margo Fourman

B.Sc., M.Ed., Fellow of the British Higher Education Academy

Having personally overcome severe dyslexia and dyspraxia, Margo passionately helps students worldwide to leverage their unique abilities.

Founder, Co-Director

Dror Schneider

B.Sc., former Instructor in the HANDLE modality

Dror has extensive experience teaching natural vision improvement and combining neurodevelopmental and sensory insights to support educational needs. She travels frequently from her home in Georgia, USA.

Co-owner and Co-director of Neuro Specialist Tutors

Abir Baidoun

Certified HANDLE Practitioner & Level 1 Instructor, Certified RMTi Consultant and Level 1 & 2 Instructor, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist, and Medical Welness Qigong Practitioner

Abir integrates multiple modalities, focusing on Autism, ADHD, Dyspraxia, anxiety, and pain relief. With over 1500 clinical hours, she deeply respects the body’s intelligence in self-correction.

Tariesa Gildenhuys

Special Needs Educator, B.Ed., Social Auxiliary Work Specialist

Tariesa owns a remedial school in Pretoria, South Africa, specializing in Autism, Asperger’s, ADHD, and anxiety. She applies a compassionate and energetic teaching approach informed by neurodevelopmental understanding.

Chiara Meloni

B.A., M.A., Diploma in Traditional Chinese Medicine (3 yrs – NL), HANDLE Screener, graduate student in Waldorf Pedagogy

Chiara is deeply commited to education and learning both for herself and for others. She studied ancient literature, archaeology, international affairs. Her eclectic skills include high school teaching, homeschooling and natural medicine.

The Founder’s Story

By Margo Fourman

Dear fellow ‘learning disabled’ student or parent,

I’d like to tell you a story that probably sounds familiar to you. I was a very lonely child. Left out of games, failing at school and constantly judged as falling short compared to my ‘genius’ brothers. For them, success seemed to come easily. For me, everything was a struggle.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get even passing grades. Was I really stupid, like everyone told me I was?

I was mocked by my fellow students and judged by my teachers. ‘Why are you so lazy? Why don’t you just work harder? Why can’t you be more like your brothers?’ Hoping to find a better way for myself and others like me, I became a teacher. My colleagues judged me for my learning differences, but worse, they mocked their ‘disabled’ students, with the same judgments that had been piled on me as a child.

I believed that these learning ‘disabled’ students could succeed if they were taught in ways that matched their abilities. But when I suggested changes, I was laughed down by the ‘professionals’.

Then I was lucky enough to meet some experts who understood neurodiversity. They taught me how the brain and body have to work together. How to make thinking and learning more effective through simple physical movements. As I explored this new understanding, thinking and studying became easier for me.

I went on to get a degree in psychology and a masters degree in inclusion and diversity.

There was government funding to provide one-on-one tutoring for individual ‘disabled’ students to ‘level the playing field’. There was also a dyslexia-friendly school model. This made tutors responsible for finding ways to help each and every student succeed, instead of just assigning a diagnosis as an explanation for failure.

As the tutors grappled with this new challenge, a few gifted educators discovered something that shook the UK education system… These so-called ‘disabilities’ were in fact ‘differences’. In fact, they found that those with these ‘disabilities’ could actually find their own ways to shine and show their own brilliance when given the opportunity.

While my studies gave me a strong technical background, it was short on practical applications that I could use for myself and my students. So I had to use what I knew of neurodevelopment to find novel solutions to each new learning challenge.

Working with young adults is amazing, since they can talk about their challenges and successes in a way younger children cannot. Those of us who are neurodiverse tend to be excellent problem solvers given the right opportunity, and I became an innovative educator pulling together my teaching experience, my understanding of neurodevelopment and my training in diversity and inclusion to help more and more students achieve their goals.

Then lockdown happened, we were all working from home and parents began to notice that their children were struggling to learn. I began to get phone calls… It soon became clear that the techniques and approaches developed with the young adults were helping the younger children too.

This new approach requires a good understanding of neurodiversity and a solid grounding in education. We have assembled a team of specialists who work together to help children and adults struggling to gain better learning efficiency.

We became Oxford Specialist Tutors.