Candace Donovan, BSc, MSc

About Candace

Ms. Donovan graduated with Bachelor of Science degree in Math and Physics from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. She started her professional career as a computer programmer for the IWK Health Center, a major women's and children's hospital and trauma center in Halifax, Nova Scotia where she built databases and provided staff database training. While at the IWK Health Center, Ms. Donovan developed a passion for teaching, which eventually led her to work as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher for more than a decade throughout South Korea, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. During this time, she encountered students with learning challenges, which led to an interest in neurodiversity. This interest in neurodiversity prompted more focus and, eventually, specializing in Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). Ms. Donovan was introduced to the Davis Dyslexia program during her work in Saudi Arabia through one of her clients. Seeing that client’s reading ability and confidence grow so rapidly inspired her to explore the Davis program. Ms. Donovan became a licensed Davis dyslexia facilitator in 2018 and a Davis autism facilitator in 2021. Ms. Donovan recently completed her Master’s Degree in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience (doing her dissertation on auditory orientation to support SEND individuals) at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD in Psychology at the University of East London researching the relationships between stimuli, arousal, and attention in order to better understand effective interventions to support learning.