Minds in Depth Community

Before her autism profile, Poppy was struggling significantly in school and at home. She faced daily challenges due to her processing difficulties and dyslexia, making it hard for her to engage with lessons and keep up with her peers. Despite her potential, Poppy’s struggles with routine changes, sensory overload, and academic demands left her feeling overwhelmed and misunderstood. School staff didn’t fully understand the depth of her challenges, and while Poppy had received a diagnosis, it didn’t lead to the specific support she needed.

Everything became much clearer after Poppy’s profile with Dr. Elizabeth Guest. The profile provided a deeper understanding of her specific cognitive, sensory and processing challenges. With this information, Poppy’s family and teachers were able to implement tailored interventions, ensuring she had the right support both at school and at home. The introduction of an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) including the right interventions meant Poppy's needs were formally recognised and addressed, allowing her to access to the right tools and support at school. These tools have helped Poppy process information better, manage changes, and become more independent.

The impact has been transformative. Poppy now attends Year 10 college daily and is doing really well in areas like English and Mathematics, where she previously struggled. Her self-esteem has grown as she’s begun to answer questions in class, engage with lessons, and make a few close friends. Although she still prefers quiet spaces to avoid sensory overload during breaks, Poppy’s ability to self-regulate and understand her own needs has greatly improved.

The tailored interventions based on her profile have made a huge difference. Daily routines and personalised strategies at home, like creating structured task lists, have helped reduce her anxiety and daily meltdowns. Poppy is now able to navigate both her school day and home life with far greater ease. Her progress has been a direct result of understanding why she struggled and ensuring the right support was in place to help her thrive. Poppy’s ability to understand her own strengths and weaknesses is empowering her to take control of her learning and life.

Before receiving his autism profile, my son struggled daily with overwhelming challenges, especially in school. Despite various interventions, no one had understood the root of his struggles. After working with Dr. Elizabeth Guest, we finally had answers. No one had identified his synesthesia—a condition where his senses overlap, making it difficult to process information like others. The profile also highlighted key information processing difficulties, explaining his confusion in the classroom.

With this understanding, we were able to implement targeted interventions both at home and in school. The change has been incredible. He now has the confidence to engage in lessons and participate in ways we never thought possible.

This personalised approach transformed his experience, not only in school but in social situations as well. He now navigates these environments with much greater ease, and the tailored strategies we've implemented have dramatically improved his learning and emotional well-being.

This profile gave us the answers we were desperately seeking and empowered him with the tools to succeed. His progress has been remarkable, and our family feels far more equipped to support him moving forward.

Thankyou for your detailed report which I have found extraordinarily useful. I was pleased you managed to interpret some of the details from my original diagnosis which I hadn’t picked up on- and preparing a written report for me has made it much more easier to process the overall picture (I often can’t see the wood for the trees!)

I will take on board the suggestions for moving forward-especially getting a pet and would be interested in perhaps looking into purchasing the social interaction sessions with Aspiedent; perhaps I can do colouring or fidget toys whilst talking to see if that reduces the tension of direct face to face communication; this is something I couldn’t practice with ‘normal ‘ interactions, particularly as most people I talk to get bored with my pace of talking and finish my conversations for me.

When Dr. Elizabeth Guest started working with me, I was in a really bad place. I was desperate for a job but just couldn’t get one. I tried several organisations that help autistic people, but no one could help me find work.

Dr. Guest was the only one who took the time to understand the root causes of my challenges, which turned out to be slow processing and detailed thinking. I’ve always been very anxious, and I guess that played a big role too.

Dr. Guest gave me personalised activities that I really enjoyed, like solving puzzles, character studies, and other exercises. These interventions made a huge difference. I was finally able to hold proper conversations, which completely transformed my relationships with my family. Amazingly, I am now less anxious, and my dad says I am much less rigid in my thinking. It also prepared me for college, where I passed my GCSE English and ICT level 2. I'm still working on GCSE maths, but what’s really surprising is that I actually enjoy studying it now. I used to hate maths and couldn’t do it at all.

I haven’t stopped aiming for a job. My first step is volunteering, which I’ve recently started doing one day a week. For this, I even had to pass an interview, which is incredible progress for me. I’m amazed at how far I’ve come and how much I’ve achieved.

This journey has been life-changing, and I owe it all to the support and interventions I received from Dr. Guest. She was the only one who really looked deeper into my difficulties, and because of her, I’ve not only improved my social skills but gained the confidence to work towards my goals.