Biography

Mark Le Messurier is a teacher, author and conference presenter. He lives in Adelaide, Australia, and is married to Sharon. They have two daughters, Kim 25 years and Noni 23 years. His background spans twenty years in schools and includes special education, adult education, child-centred education and community education projects. Mark is a recipient of the prestigious Australian National Excellence in Teaching Award. He is a passionate educator.

Mark works in schools and in private practice at Fullarton House with children and adolescents he affectionately refers to as the Tough Kids; the kids whose lives are compromised by the unpredictability of their functioning, or by the capricious nature of their home life, or by both. Consequently, they find life much tougher than most and in the process make life tougher for those who care for them and educate them. They comprise a challenging population of students who are increasingly being identified with underlying executive functioning delays. Without adequate executive functioning capabilities kids lack the ability to delay gratification, listen and filter out distractions, process new information, remember, plan, persist, adapt to change, keep track of time and self-regulate emotion and behaviour. Many of the young individuals he works alongside display clusters of troubling behaviours that attract formal identification. Diagnoses include; Giftedness, Immaturity, Oppositional behaviours, Specific Learning Difficulties, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, Dyslexia, Language Disorder, Auditory Processing Disorder and Asperger Syndrome. Mark's work focuses on strengthening their success through mentorship and through the encouragement of stronger, trusting relationships between parents, teachers and students. His latest book, Teaching Tough Kids, was commissioned by the Routledge Taylor and Francis group of educational publishers, London, www.routledge.com. It encapsulates the work he is engaged in.

Mark regularly presents at conferences for public and independent schools, parents and interested groups throughout Australia and Australasia. In 2007 he was a Keynote Speaker at SPELD New Zealand's International Learning Difficulty Conference. His presentations relate to mentoring, ADD & ADHD, Asperger Syndrome, Specific Learning Difficulties, developing emotional resilience, successful parenting and teaching children with challenging behaviours.

In 2004 he wrote Cognitive Behavioural Training: a How-to Guide for Successful Behaviour. This popular resource was written for special education coordinators, teachers, teachers in training, school support officers, counsellors, psychologists and health professionals and is now distributed throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom. It addresses common problems that students face: organisation, remembering, self-awareness, motivation and emotional resilience.

Mark has also completed a training and development film on Learning Difficulties – REFLECTIONS ON DYSLEXIA. It is designed for teachers, parents & older students and looks at the lives of four individuals who live with Dyslexia. They tell how their learning difficulty has steered the choices they have made, what has helped, and what has hurt along the way. The DVD package is available to individuals, schools, colleges and tertiary institutions.

In 2007 Parenting Tough Kids - Simple Proven Strategies for Success (ISBN 978075231210) was released. It is a book for parents, parent resource libraries, school libraries, teachers and school counsellors; in fact for anyone with an investment in children. It too has become a popular. To date national and international sales have topped 100,000. This book presents a collection of healthy, winning ways to bring about helpful organisational and behavioural changes for all children, especially those who learn and react differently. Filled with easy to read, real case studies and ideas it is a book that delivers a 'hands-on' approach to improve the behaviour, emotion, organisation, learning and friendship skills of children.

In 2008 Mark and Lindy Petersen's STOP & THINK Friendship DVD Package, first released in 2000, was revised and reprinted. This social skills development resource is also distributed to schools, educators and clinicians throughout Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

Mark is also the architect of the unique Mentoring Program currently building capacity in South Australian Catholic schools. The program provides for ongoing care and support from a compassionate, stable adult working within the school system. Students (mentees) meet with trained staff volunteers (mentors) at school in regular face-to-face meetings each week to review the week, to plan and monitor progress and to discuss social, emotional and academic issues they may be experiencing. The program is initiated by a one day workshop, and by the end of the day, participants are ready to begin a mentoring relationship with a student in their school. To date, a group of inspirational staff are quietly taking special care of more than 350 of the most vulnerable students in South Australian Catholic schools. The hope is that gradually, more and more 'at risk' students will be supported by the amazing ripple effect that is beginning to radiate from this uplifting program. A program that is producing far more value than anyone ever dreamed.

Mark, and colleague Madhavi Nawana-Parker, are currently writing What's the Buzz? What's the Buzz? is a uniquely designed 16 lesson play-based social skills training program with a cognitive behavioural bias. It is a comprehensive 'how-to' course to assist children aged 6-12 years of age to build friendship and problem solving capacities more effectively. It is based on the social skills groups Mark and Madhavi have run for some time. The goal is to develop the program as a comprehensive manual that can be easily used in schools by administrators, teachers, psychologists, school counsellors, teacher assistants, parents and allied health professionals. It is to be published by the Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group (London) and is scheduled for release late in 2010.

Mark can always be contacted at

web:	http://marklemessurier.com.au
email:	mark@marklemessurier.com.au