What people are saying…
Working with Rachael has been so incredibly helpful. She is very knowledgable and a real pleasure to work with - she also has a knack for putting nervous children at ease. Both the assessment process and the findings of the dyslexia report have had a profound impact upon my daughter. Her self esteem has been suffering badly but seeing Rachael has completely turned that around and given her confidence and a understanding of how her brain works. The emphasis that Rachael puts on the positives of dyslexia has been a game changer for our whole family. I’d highly recommend Rachael.
— Louise
“I love working with Rachael, she's a great teacher. She's different to school because she really gets to know you and she doesn't jump onto a subject you don't want to do. I've got more confident by working with her. Her sessions are very fun and if you get stuck she helps you in a way that you can understand it. She really supports me and gives me feedback that I understand.”
— Thea, age 10
“It's an occupational hazard comparing your children to other kids (even though you try not to)! I thought I'd got a handle on that until my kids went to school and I quickly realised that the whole education system was not only comparing my children to everyone else's they were also making a judgement about them and deciding that they weren't where they needed to be. Our primary school experience quickly descended into endless rounds of frustration and floods of tears with any school work - not because they weren't trying but because they found everything so challenging. The never ending pressure of reading, writing and numbers - the 3 things they find most hard quickly turned frustration into behaviour issues and lack of self belief. It broke my heart, seemingly not being able to help and I couldn't believe I was having to have discussions with school about the self esteem of a really small child.
It's taken some long conversations with other parents and people like Rachael to remind me that my instincts about my children were right and they gave me the strength to fight back on areas of school pressure that were essentially negatively impacting on our family life.
Working with Rachael has restored their confidence and resilience, teaching them valuable insights into how everyone's brain works differently. I really feel it's like a protective forcefield from the pressures of primary school.
Seeing my children work with Rachael has taught me one valuable lesson - my children aren't behind where some nameless government bod thinks they should be, they are exactly where they should be for them. They love their tutor sessions even after a long school day. Not only do they benefit from Rachael's expertise in approaching their learning from a different perspective but we as parents have also gained some much needed peace with the situation and that in turn makes our family life a much nicer place to be.”
— Caroline, Mum to Thea and Jake
Rachel is the best teacher ever. She has helped me understand things better, and we have fun too, she is funny and kind.
— George, age 10
Rachel came into our lives when my son had just been diagnosed with Dyslexia. George was 10 years old at the time, we had suspected this for a while as despite being incredibly bright, articulate and with academic strengths he was struggling with spelling and handwriting. George was doing things like discussing kidney function, his desire to cure cancer, and discussing the million different types of parasites that existed around the world for his show and tell in reception! However, writing his name took so much effort. This was a constant internal battle for George. Luckily for us Rachel stepped in! Rachel is incredibly compassionate, knowledgeable, kind and has an incredible way with children. The confidence she instilled in George was huge. Finally someone who recognised that George is an incredible story teller and writer! Year after year George 'struggled' with English. He would shut down as soon as the pencil was brought out. Rachel helped him realise there are many ways of recording your work and stories - audio and typing changed everything for him. I'm absolutely sure Rachel has helped George grow and understand that he can do anything he wants, yes he might have to work harder but with that the rewards are greater.
— Emma, Mum to George
Wow - I can honestly say, I think Rachael at The Dyslexia Gift will change my 9 year old son's life. I feel quite emotional writing this, as at long, long last someone just 'gets' my son & how his brain processes information. In addition to this dyslexia assessment, my son has Inattentive ADHD complications, so there was much to unpick. Rachael has a kind, fun & inspiring manner. She gave me time after the assessment to explain her initial findings & followed up with an extremely detailed report, that was easy to read & digest. Her recommendations being clear & concise, for school & home - and importantly for us, she linked in the Inattentive ADHD complications, providing an abundance of suggestions on how to make the learning process smoother for my son. My thanks to Rachael for showing us the route to a bright, shiny future.
— CB
My daughter has been working with Rachael for 2-3 years now and I have seen her confidence rise considerably. School has been a difficult place but Rachael has helped her to find different ways of learning and has helped her to recognise her other strengths.
Rachael is so engaging and made my daughter feel relaxed enough to learn, when previously she had been so scared and nervous. The sessions are fun as well as educational and she uses visual methods and stories which work so well for children with neuro diverse children.
— Zoe, Mum to Olive
Rachael recently assessed our daughter and we would 100% recommend her. She was very thorough, clearly explained the process that would be followed and provided an extensive and detailed post-assessment report including clear actions and advice on how we should work with our daughter’s school. Most importantly however, Rachael was kind and very friendly with our daughter and made the sessions fun and very quickly put our daughter at ease. Rachael was also very approachable and in short we felt very happy with the entire process and service that Rachael provided. Recommended!
— Tim
Rachael's extensive experience and compassion were evident throughout the entire process of assessing my daughter for dyslexia; she is calm, clear, empathetic, and supremely professional. This assessment has enabled such an enormous shift in the way my daughter is thinking about her own learning, and education and prospects long-term, as well as a huge self-esteem boost. Rachael provided so much support, as well as uncomplicated and direct information – from advice about how to discuss SEN with the school as well as a simplified top-note report supplied alongside the full assessment, to general advice about useful tech and learning strategies. Most importantly, Rachael consistently centred my daughter within our discussions so she had a chance to hear everything and ask any questions she needed to.
We are very grateful for all her help, and I have already recommended The Dyslexia Gift to several people based on our hugely positive experience. Thank you Rachael.