Dr. Maria Robinson has 25 years experience working with children and families. This includes working as a health visitor and subsequently a tutor in FE and HE. She is passionate about the well being of babies and very young children and her own adoption history also led to a personal as well as a professional interest in the after effects of a disrupted childhood.
This has led to her wanting to know as much as possible on her personal and professional journey leading eventually to her doctorate. This focused on the crucial value of play and the importance of an integrated approach to development and the particular importance of emotions.
She has offered training and workshops to professionals working with children and families across the country and has delivered keynote speeches at a number of conferences in England and Scotland.
She has published three books which are:
- Understanding Behaviour and Development in the Early Years (2010/2011) Routledge
- Development 0-8 - A Journey through the early years: (2008), Open University Press
- From Birth to One - the Year of Opportunity (2003) - Published by Open University Press
Another book which builds on her research findings and mainly intended for health visitors is in press at the moment (2011).
In addition, Maria has written a number of articles for Nursery World magazine including a series on child development.
