Testimonials
"Thank you. The assessment was great and [my daughter] felt at ease the whole time and the report is fabulous. We couldn’t have asked for more. The school has also embraced this and their proactive steps and attitude towards it has been amazing. Everything is changing for [my daughter] and at such a pace too. I should tell you, this is largely down to the value the school place in you as an assessor. They were delighted we had used you and said you were by far the best and most regarded assessor in the county!"
"I have been so late in thanking you for your help with [my son]. We plunged into meetings at school straight away, [he] got more time for his exams last week and support from the inclusion team. They said yours was the best report they has ever received so thank you so much. [My son] stated that he now knows who he is. It's been a bit of a roller coaster but in such a positive way so a much belated thank you, thank you"
"Sarah, I just want to thank you for the other day. As an adult, I was so nervous about coming to see you. I thought I might be a bit old coming for an assessment! But you were really kind and gentle. When you told me that I have dyslexia and dyspraxia, you explained your conclusions really clearly and gave me lots of of time to ask questions. It was also so nice of you to check how I was about getting this news as I was emotional. The news is such a relief but it was helpful to have a bit of a cry with you. Happy tears! I cannot believe that you have sent me the report already that has many useful ideas in there to help me. Thank you!"
"Wow, thank you so so much for seeing [our daughter], being very welcoming and writing such a detailed and comprehensive report which echoes our thoughts about her perfectly. We will read, digest and share with her school and medical teams. I do feel everything is now explained and feel much more prepared to help [our daughter] achieve the best she can in life."
"I just wanted to thank you for all of your input with our students this year - so many have commented on how at ease and comfortable they have felt in your assessments which makes it so much easier for us to have those (sometimes difficult) conversations about further assessment" (feedback from a SENCo)
"Hi Sarah. Thank you so much for assessing my son. He was really nervous about seeing you however much I tried to reassure him. However, I could see him relax as soon as you opened your door as you were so smiley and clearly intended to make the experience very laid back. Thank you also for explaining things really clearly afterwards as I was keen for you to explain what dyslexia is rather than me try. He loved how you've seen a famous YouTuber with dyslexia. He thought that was so cool though he wished you were allowed to tell him the YouTuber's name! But you made the whole experience really fun and I know we're going to remember yesterday with fond memories for a very long time to come xx"
"Sarah, thank you for absolutely everything. I'm immensely grateful that you could see [my daughter]. When we looked at various assessment options, we were initially curious that your assessment is only 2 hours when everyone else's seemed to be 3-4 hours or more but on talking to you on the phone it was clear that you are really experienced and you also are very mindful of mental health. She couldn't have coped with a long assessment! But she enjoyed her time with you and clearly didn't feel rushed or pressurised. The report is amazing! This is going to be a resource to keep coming back to. Eternally grateful xx"
"I just writing to you Sarah to say thank you for assessing my [teenage] son. Living in Hong Kong, I never thought we'd find someone who'd be so accommodating for our time zone. i was told that you're flexible and you really are as I know it was during the night at your end! We'll be moving soon to UAE and we feel confident that his report will help him when settling into his international school. I wish we'd been given your details sooner. Please keep in touch."
"It was lovely to meet you on Friday. Thank you for all your advice and for making me feel so at ease. It was such a positive experience and it’s clear to see why you are always booked up! I would highly recommend you to anyone seeking SpLD help"
"I just wanted to thank you properly again for your thorough and excellent report for [my son]. All I can say is that it has been our silver lining in this entire pandemic - just confirming that [he] has dyslexia as well as getting the right support in place for him to regain confidence and thrive to learn. I just wanted to share this with you as I am just feeling so very grateful right now. Thank you once again for all your brilliant work"
"Just wanted to say a huge thank you for the extremely detailed reports, written in such a positive manner and full of brilliant strategies and recommendations. Both the children are still completely unfazed by their diagnosis, which is so important to me. I wanted this to be a positive experience for them to understand why they both have difficulties around literacy, words, spelling, reading, etc. They both really enjoyed the actual process and it's been such a positive experience of discovery. It's just who they are, and is part of them, it's not a negative thing. A little bit of self discovery and understanding goes a long way in my opinion. Thank you so much for all your help and support! The reports will be invaluable as they continue their journeys through education and beyond."
"Hi Sarah, Thank you so much for sending this over so promptly. I can't thank you enough for all your help with this and the dyslexia testing. I've waited a long time to get some answers. And now I finally have them. If only I had met you years ago. It's been a true pleasure meeting you. It really has. You are a very nice kind lady. Some people in this world really do make a difference to others. You are definitely one of those people. Thanks once again"
"I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the very detailed report you sent through about my son. I’m amazed at how well you got to know him in such a short amount of time. The picture you painted is definitely the boy I know! It was very reassuring to read that areas I feel he has struggled with were highlighted and now we know there is an underlying reason behind it. Thank you for all the very helpful resources and suggestions which will be very useful for home and school. You have been fantastic during this whole process and I will have no hesitation in recommending you to other friends. Thank you!"
"We hope you are keeping well. We just wanted to thank you again for your dyslexia assessment, diagnosis and report for [our son]. After another attempt at working with the school and a subsequent refusal to assess by the local authority, we appealed to the first tier SEND tribunal...and won! The tribunal were highly complementary of your detailed and comprehensive assessment and report, which was pivotal to their decision making process in the absence of any assessment from the school and local authority. The decision they’ve made, citing your report, will no doubt be vital to us in the future should they then try to refuse an EHCP. Again, thank you so much for helping us. Hopefully, we can finally start to get [our son] some real support!"
"Wow, what can I say? What an incredible report. Thank you so very much indeed for enabling us to be able to move forward and to be able to support [my daughter] correctly now both at school and at home. This is an answer to prayer for sure! We have told her about her new superpower! She is seeming to be relieved that there is an answer to why some things happened to be so tricky at school. Thank you again Sarah. You have been an angel in disguise and such a welcome relief to the last 5 years of upset. Thank you doesn’t come close."
"Everything has drastically changed, since our family met Sarah. She has changed our world, and my son is now happy again. We've always known / felt our son is dyslexic and have faced many challenges and obstacles with the school. Throughout the years of mothers intuition, trigger factors and research, we knew this day would be a significant change. Not only is Sarah professional and friendly, she was able to provide a safe and comfortable environment for our son, who felt very nervous. My son and I was so happy after the diagnosis, as he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. This was the very day we had 'our' son back. The terrible journey he had been through was finally over. He had the diagnosis to say his struggles were real and he was different, not stupid. He finally felt a sense of self worth, and Sarah enabled him to embrace this. Not only was Sarah able to provide an accurate assessment, but more importantly, provide our family with the tools in order to move forward. Due to her wealth of knowledge and information, we've taken the step to homeschool our children. Without this information, we wouldn't be able to provide a dyslexic friendly environment for our son to flourish. Every question was answered and we left feeling like we knew the direction we were heading in and armed with resources. Thank you Sarah for giving our son back to us and supporting our family on this journey"
"I wanted to let you know that, thanks to your assessment and help, my daughter was able to secure DSA at university. She found this so valuable and much needed. I am delighted to let you know that she gained a first class degree in geography - something we don't believe was possible without this help. Apart from obviously being very proud of her, I wanted to let you know in case it would inspire or give another dyslexic student the confidence to apply for DSA and go to uni."
"Thank you so much for the time you spent with my son. You really put him at ease and made him feel very comfortable throughout the assessment. Thank you also for this fantastic report. It has provided us with a much improved insight into the struggles he has been having and given us some brilliant tools to help him overcome them as much as possible in both school life & home life!"
"We've already noticed an uptick in my son's confidence since your assessment confirming his dyslexia. When I asked him how he felt, he said "Mum, I feel light". You have lifted a weight from his shoulders. Thank you!"
"As always, Sarah was warm, kind, professional and thorough today at my eldest son's second assessment. My family would not go anywhere else and I recommend her without any hesitation. First class"
"Thank you so much Sarah! I am so glad I contacted you to do my daughter's assessment. I honestly didn't think my daughter would manage a complete assessment but your lovely calm manner and flexible approach made it possible. Your report is excellent, thank you. It is extremely thorough and has achieved exactly what I hoped i.e. a really clear understanding of my daughter's strengths and challenges in literacy and numeracy skills. This understanding is invaluable for us right now and to help with future planning. Your recommendations are also extremely helpful and will help shape provision for my daughter's education. Once again - thank you!"
"Thank you very much for your work with my daughter. She has settled back into her studies at university and has seen the dyslexia support team at the university. She is very relieved and thanks to your report she can get some practical help in place now"
"Thank you so much for your report on [my son]. From your comments, I can see you have really painted an accurate picture of [him] - I am so impressed at your insight from just one meeting! Thanks for being so thorough and lovely, too"
"Thanks for the report. it arrived yesterday just in time for my meeting with the school. They commented that it was the best and most thorough dyslexia report they have read in a very long time and took down your details to recommend you to other parents. Thank you!"
"I asked Sarah for a private dyslexia assessment for one of my family members who was nine years old at the time. Sarah is very lovely, putting everyone at their ease and answering any questions in a way children can understand. The assessment took around two hours, with breaks when needed and we were told the initial results the same day. Sarah then wrote up a full report which we received within a week. The report gave us guidance about the best ways to learn, which we could take to school for them to put in place helpful strategies. Also, we were given advice regarding the future for exams etc. and support which may be available."
"So good to meet you, and you were brilliant with my daughter. Thank you for making it such an easy, enjoyable and interesting experience. And of course we’re all absolutely delighted to finally have an explanation for the problems she’s been having. She’s a very relieved and happy girl! And thank you too for completing the report so quickly!"
"I would like to thank you again for the support and advice that you have given me, too. I really was feeling very lost and helpless. You have helped me immensely, not only in terms of negotiating the different types of SEN, but also in realising that the assessment process and subsequent diagnosis does not need to be a negative experience, and that acknowledgement and diagnosis can lead to understanding, further support and many opportunities and positive outcomes for [my son]"
"I just wanted to say thank you so much for today. It is so reassuring to finally have some answers and now we can focus on the future and get the correct help for [my son]. He felt completely at ease with you and you made the whole experience from start to finish stress free and relaxing"
"I wanted a report done for [my son] before he started secondary school so I contacted Sarah. She came to my house and spent about an hour and a half with him looking at things like reading speed, comprehension, spelling and memory. He really liked Sarah and generally he hates anything to do with school. You’ve got to have a way about you when you talk to a teenager but he was happy as Larry, he even asked if she could come back again!"
"Following a recommendation from a friend, my daughter saw Sarah McCahon and was assessed accordingly. I found her very prompt from start to finish, starting with getting in contact and visiting us in our home, allowing my daughter to feel comfortable in her own surroundings which I thought was good. To start with there was a test to assess any weaknesses, lots of advice on reading materials and various options and advice given, following with a report which was written up and completed the very next day which was very impressive. My daughter felt at ease with her, laughing and having her full attention. I would definitely recommend her."