A woman from Wiltshire who is a trustee at a charity founded by her non-verbal son has received an OBE for services to special educational needs.

Chantal Bryan, who lives near Malmesbury, is a trustee of Teach Us Too, a charity striving to ensure all children are taught to read and write, regardless of their disability or educational label.

She was given the honour by Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace.

Swindon Advertiser: Chantal Bryan holding her OBEChantal Bryan holding her OBE (Image: Chantal Bryan)

The charity was founded by Ms Bryan's son, Jonathan, who is non-verbal and was unable to communicate for the first eight years of his life.

After being removed from a special school and taught to read and write at home, he learnt to communicate by spelling out his thoughts with his eyes on an alphabet board.

This breakthrough completely transformed his life and inspired the formation of Teach Us Too.

It allowed the young wordsmith to feel, as he put it, like “a bird freed from its cage” and finally express his love of language.

Ms Bryan said: "We've heard some amazing stories about the change communication can make.

"Imagine a child saying 'I love you' to their parents for the first time.

"Young people can now say what they want to do and express their likes and dislikes.

"A teenage girl told us she likes to choose the song she wants to hear."

Jonathan appeared at at a Swindon Spring Festival event in 2019 where he shared his memoir, Eye Can Write.

Extracts from his book about his reasons for writing and his life at home and school were read out by his sister Susannah and festival organiser Matt Holland and, in a video, by acclaimed author Sir Michael Morpurgo.

Jonathan said at the time that he hoped to be a “voice for the voiceless” and campaign for all children to be taught to read and write, regardless of their label.

Teach Us Too empowers non-verbal children, encouraging them to challenge preconceptions about their inability to communicate.

The charity talks to education students and professionals nationwide, advocating for non-verbal pupils to be taught literacy.

Additionally, they sponsor courses for teachers and professionals to equip them with the knowledge they need to be able to teach their pupils literacy.

Teach Us Too has been shortlisted for the Disability Power 100, a list of the 100 most influential individuals, companies and charities working for and with people with disabilities.