John started teaching in St Bernadette's Special School in Letterkenny in September 2006, after returning from a year's travelling around the world (Asia, Australia, New Zealand, USA). St Bernadette's is a school for children with mild general learning disabilities and also children with autism. The school is a primary school and all teachers are primary qualified but the children range in age from four to eighteen years. Currently there are seventy-six pupils and they travel each day by bus from all over Donegal. There are nine teachers and fourteen Special Needs Assistants (SNA's). John is working with eighteen children who are on the autism spectrum in the school, ranging in age from six to eighteen. His role is to help them with their communication, social and self-help skills. They come to his classroom in small groups of two or three for about forty-five minutes each day.
Nichola has been teaching in Little Angels Special School in Letterkenny since September 2007. The school caters for children with moderate, severe and profound learning disabilities and children with autism. It is a primary school but the children range in age from three to eighteen. The children attend the school from all over Donegal. They recently opened two new pre-school classes (three and four-year olds) for autistic children. The school currently has eighty-one pupils with fourteen teachers and thirty-five SNA's. This year Nichola has a class of seven children aged between seven and eight, all with a moderate learning disability.