TESTIMONIALS

"Anne-Marie is just simply amazing... her experience, expertise and professionalism are truly outstanding"

“I contacted Anne-Marie in July 2020, after frantically searching for an experienced SEN and emotional coach who could provide support in the Berkshire area for my 13 year old son, who has special educational needs and significant language difficulties. Whilst interventions were put in place at primary and secondary school, following assessments by SALT and Educational Psychologists, it was clear that my son was still struggling to access his education, with the learning gap between him and his peers increasing.

I explained to Anne-Marie the challenges we were facing, with the school repetitively putting in place interventions which were not effective. She was attentive, empathetic and demonstrated vast experience in this area, without making judgement. My request at the time was for Anne-Marie to meet my son and establish whether she could support him with his SEN and provide emotional coaching, at home.

After only working with my son for 6 months, I am so amazed with the good relationship and strong rapport he has with Anne-Marie. She picked up on his love of comics and on her first visit (after spending her own time and effort to create a comic PowerPoint presentation), she presented my son with this. He was absolutely delighted and their relationship has gone from strength to strength. He is enjoying the sessions and is engaging very well. He has found a confidante in Anne-Marie, who he trusts and can laugh with, whilst learning and using new strategies. These sessions are also helping to bring out his fun-loving personality.

Recently, Anne-Marie has gone above and beyond with her support and guidance, which allowed me to complete a request for an EHC assessment on behalf of my son. I found the process and forms difficult to understand, not having done this before. However, Anne-Marie was patient with all of my questions, extremely knowledgeable regarding the legal process timelines and experienced with the documentation needed as supporting evidence. Whilst this process is not yet complete, I feel confident that I have access to work with Anne-Marie and obtain confidential advice, every step of the way.

Anne-Marie is just simply amazing! I had reviewed the profiles of other SEN and emotional coaches within the area, but her experience, expertise and professionalism were exemplary and absolutely shone through. She is truly outstanding, with a soothing, down-to-earth style. She is passionate and cares about my son’s education and future, as much as I do. That is such a rare and remarkable trait. I am so blessed and grateful to have found Anne-Marie and look forward to her supporting my son as he continues his education and prepares for adulthood.”

From a truly appreciative mum, Berkshire

"Anne-Marie has served as an emotional coach to M for the past 8 years, beginning around the time he was diagnosed with autism aged 8. Anne-Marie is an incredibly skilled practitioner who truly understands the complexities and nuances of neurodiversity. Raising an autistic child comes with its challenges, but with Anne-Marie’s guidance over the years we are now able to see and experience what a gift it has been. Anne-Marie has an incredible talent for tailoring sessions around M’s latest interest, and seamlessly adapting her style to his changing needs from child to teenager. Early on, M learned lifelong emotional regulation tools from a board game she made from scratch - it must have taken hours! That was a super fun session, and M came home buzzing.

Now that M is a teenager, she brings her sweet dog, rabbits and guinea pigs to the sessions, and their presence creates a lovely sense of calm and naturally opens up the conversation. Under her guidance, M has overcome his severe anxiety and developed his resilience, emotional regulation and social skills to a level that he is happily thriving in mainstream school and looking forward to studying aerospace engineering at university.

Over the years, Anne-Marie has also been a faithful advocate for us as we navigate government support, school applications and school transition routines. She is a rare find and we are extremely grateful for the impact she has had on our lives."

"Anne-Marie has been a lifeline for our family. Our AuDHD/PDA son was struggling with any sort of school attendance, and we felt completely lost in how to support his unique learning needs.

From the start, Anne-Marie just understood—she listened, reassured us, and has been incredibly generous with her time and advice. She’s also supported us through the start of the EHCP process and been an invaluable sounding board during a really difficult phase.

Over the past couple of months, she’s been doing self-directed learning with our son, and it’s been amazing to see the change. He’s engaging again, learning in a way that truly works for him, and his curiosity and love of learning have come back.

We feel far less alone and much more confident as a family. If you have a neurodivergent child, you need Anne-Marie in your back pocket."

By Niamh Collings