What People Say
Testimonials from parents, students, professionals and organisations which highlight the transformative impact of Grapefruit’s coaching, talks and training.
‘Jo approaches her work in a truly pastoral way, in the sense that she takes into account the whole person as well as the systems and influences around them. We always sensed that she was tackling the here-and-now requirements our son had, always with an eye on what she knew he’d confront later’
Jim - CEO - Father of Dyslexic Student
James has worked with both my girls, 11 and 16 for the last 2 years. Both girls are ADHD and dyslexic (on the higher end). He has a great ability to understand them and works with them brilliantly and according to their individual needs. He is hugely well informed and deeply intuitive. He brings calm and spontaneity to our happy but somewhat chaotic household!
Without doubt he will be a huge benefit to any child in need of support and understanding with any neurodiverse need! Both girls have grown extensively under his guidance and most importantly their individual needs emotionally and academically have grown hugely with the help of James. We could not recommend him more highly.
Charlotte - Artist and Mother
‘As a creative team working in an ever changing and dynamic market, team work and self expression are crucial to delivering for our global clients. After realising that our neurodivergent employees are our greatest asset, we wanted to have a better understanding of how to support them. Thank you Jo and James for your amazing insights and training. We also found your talk on neurodiversity engaging and helpful to connect the dots within a business and human context. We are now a stronger and happier team’
Head of HR - Seven Brands Agency
‘As a specialist criminal defence legal practice, we recently undertook training in the area of neurodiversity. This was an entirely new area for our management team, and the insights gained have proved invaluable.
The training not only enhanced our internal workplace practices but also broadened our perspective on the different ways team members communicate and process information. We also have a greater understanding of our clients and how individuals may perceive and respond to legal processes’
Central London Legal Firm
‘Firstly James tried to understand how our son was learning and where the stumbling blocks were. He went back to fundamentals to ensure profound learning then only later moved to complex ideas. Afterward he introduced rigour in repetition and assisted our son to develop learning systems. He also assisted our son in learning how to plan and strategise his learning.
The care and concern that James had for our son was remarkable. He unlocked our son’s unrealised ability and helped him move toward thriving. I cannot thank him enough. Through this academic journey I always say that James “saved our son’s life” and helped our son reorient the track he was on to move toward a completely new level’
Juliet, CEO and mother
‘Jo’s impact on my daughter’s development and mental health has been immeasurable.
Jo has been supporting my daughter since her Dyslexia was diagnosed in Year 4. Jo provided a welcoming home environment for tutoring and quickly built trust, enabling her to get to the heart of my daughter’s challenges. She looked beyond the diagnosis, taking a holistic view of my daughter’s needs.
As we moved through the education system, Jo was with us all the way. Offering honest opinions and support as we chose secondary schools, negotiated with SENCOs and fought for required mitigations in the school environment. At times, Jo accompanied us to school meetings where her expertise was key.
She is very well connected and has connected us with other parents and has signposted us to practitioners as went through further diagnoses.
For my husband and I, she has been an ever available source of support, advice, positivity and, when needed, a shoulder to cry on. I can’t thank or recommend her highly enough’
Sue, Executive in Charge, of Industrial Light & Magic's London studio
‘There wasn’t a subject or aspect that was off limits - from liaising with the school, to securing additional support, and navigating the forms and the processes which accompanied both’
Jim - CEO - Father of Dyslexic Student
‘James we are enormously grateful for the support you gave our son. There were two aspects of this one was educational, this meant he was not a rabbit in headlights and therefore was calm and focus better with his other subjects. I also believe you’re an amazing mentor and coach and that was a big reason for our ADHD son to be able to focus and improve and believe in himself. He really connected with you. Thank you so much’
Jan , Doctor and mother
‘Jo has helped me to navigate my way through school and understand my ADHD and Dyslexia. Overcoming the neurotypical school system is something I have been trying to do for years and can be very overwhelming. Jo has made a real difference’
Betty - Age 13
‘We have to start with a sentence that describes how we feel about Jo and James. The truth is - we are not entirely sure how we would have navigated the last couple of years, had we not found them. It is a pretty overwhelming feeling when you know your children would be much happier if you only knew how to unlock the specific ways to help them. Not being experts in neurodivergent children, we were lost on where to begin to help our bright, happy, fun, intelligent, kind and loving kids.
The harder and more pressured school became, the more we were challenged to keep them buoyant and hopeful - day to day, week to week, term to term.
We found Jo first. Our son, then 11, came out of his first English literacy lesson with Jo and said ‘Jo really gets me, mum’. I can’t describe how that made me feel. Later, we met James (through Jo) and he began to work with both our son and older daughter for Maths and Science. It is hard to put into words the change you see in your children when they regularly see people that ‘get them’. The way in which they begin to view their own abilities and start to value their contributions - both at school and at home - is an incredible thing to witness. This is not at all to take away from a steep upward trajectory of their understanding of - and application to - the subjects Jo and James tutor our children in (English, Maths and Science). Meeting weekly with Jo and James, both our son and daughter have made great strides in every direction. But there has been a holistic shift. An Educational Psychologist once said to us ‘your child doesn’t need support, they need the RIGHT support’.
Once Jo and James began to work with our children, we truly understood what they meant’
Fiona, Director, Photographer & Des, Unit and Key Art Photographer
‘When James first started working with us, he was an important member of a team we put around our son to support him in the face of some quite considerable mental health issues.
James is very caring and compassionate and has been a coach to us as parents as well as our son; as part of our lives, he has given us invaluable perspective, which is down to his extensive experience working with neuro-diverse children and his kindness and compassion.
James has become a member of the family and has helped us psychologically as much as anything else’
Zaid, Business owner and Father
‘Jo and James have helped with my dyslexia and dyscalculia. I am being tested for other things. School is easier to understand and my grades and marks in tests are better. My overall mindset is more positive because I understand more about myself and how I learn with less stress’
Rex - age 12