RECOMMENDATIONS
Esther
Dr Pugh is attuned to the subtle nuances of autism and demand avoidant behaviour. He worked well with my daughter, and she was able to complete all the assessments tasks, a stark contrast from the previous inexperienced educational psychologist who struggled to engage with my daughter. Dr Pugh was a pleasure to work with, I would definitely recommend.
Danielle
After a long hard battle with the local authority after 10 years for my son, I found Dr John online, I can say I will never look back, Dr John is fantastic and after assessing my son I got the help that he needs and more. My son is now in his special school and thriving. If it wasn’t for primus psychology, I would have still been waiting for diagnosis that I knew my son had from a young age. Dr John’s report is out of this world it breaks down all the issues your child is experiencing, and it gets you the help your child needs. I am using Dr John again for my youngest son in January and I can’t wait for the report and for him to get the help that he needs. Thank you so much John for everything.
Nina
“John is brilliant!! He is an excellent professional who has a fountain of knowledge and whom I can totally rely on, in the midst of EHCP matrix of information. John is also a great listener, a great “fighter” in my corner when I’m navigating through the system. My son wouldn’t be where he is without John. I would 1000% (yes, a thousand percent) recommend John to any parents who are in need a quality EP report. His report is worth its weight in gold/diamond and a whole lot more! Thank you, John, for being there for us through a hard and very emotional journey! I definitely get in touch next time I need an update on the EP report!” – Nina.
Caitlin
I am super pleased that I found John (Primus Psychology) to provide an assessment for my little boy. John was very responsive and managed to quickly appoint my little boy for an assessment. John is very knowledgeable within the SEN sector and was able to identify all of my child’s individual needs. During my little boys assessment, John respected my son’s personal space, yet at the same time found a way to interact with him that wasn’t distressing for my little boy. The report provided is extremely well detailed and does not allowing any room for interpretation from the LA. My LA had no problem deeming the report as sufficient to use as EHCN advice. If I ever have any problems in future, I will not think twice about using Primus Psychology to assist! I can’t thank you enough!
Rachel
John provided an excellent and thorough assessment of our primary aged boy. Our son is very wary of strangers and has a propensity to become dysregulayed in new situations. John handled this with ease and clearly built a real rapport, something other professionals had previously struggled with. The report John provided is very specific and clear and leaves no uncertainty. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend John to others, especially for the assessment of introverted, ‘high masking’ children.
Katy
After years trying to have our son assessed for autism, we decided he couldn’t wait any longer and looked for an independent expert to help. We didn’t know anyone who could provide a recommendation so feel very fortunate to have come across John in an internet search.
Our son (unusually) took to John immediately and was able to complete a comprehensive assessment; John confirmed he met the criteria for ASD and advised that he would need a psychologist to provide a diagnosis. He also recommended assessment by speech and occupational therapists and advised us on the type of school he would need going forward. This enabled us to fight for the right support for our son.
Most importantly, John really helped us to understand our son, and how to help him, and this has made an enormous difference to our home life. John supported us again with an updated review before our son moved on to secondary school, where he’s now settled quickly and has made friends.
We would highly recommend John to anyone in search of assessment for their child, for any form of learning disability; in an area where parents and children often struggle to get help, John’s caring and expert advice will help them navigate the difficult path to obtaining the support they need. We couldn’t have done it without him.
Amy & James
We commissioned Primus after intensive research for a private EP that has a great understanding of PDA – something which we found actually quite difficult to find!
Dr John Pugh managed to get our son to sit with him and completed appropriate assessments with him. From this he created a beautiful, detailed report which identified our sons’ strengths and weaknesses, this was given to us rapidly – something we are extremely pleased with (other reports from OP/SALT etc have taken 4 weeks+), our EP report was given to us within the week. The report was successfully accepted by our LA (meaning we shaved time off the expected wait for our draft EHCP).
Dr John Pugh was extremely professional, yet relaxed and made our son feel comfortable and confident. Normally after assessments our son is a bit anxious, however he was completely fine after this one.
Thank you again, we really recommend Primus to other parents.
Parent of child with an Autism Spectrum Condition – South East England
“I would have no hesitation in recommending John Pugh. I can personally vouch for the fact that he is fantastic both in the lead up to tribunal and most importantly during the actual tribunal…we truly, and deeply appreciate everything you did, and how excellent you were in court.
Lisa
“I can’t thank you enough for your services. From talking to me and school staff, and spending time assessing my son you totally and utterly understood what my sons needs were and why he had been struggling. I appreciated the travelling you undertook to get to us and visiting another school to judge suitability. Honestly can’t thank you enough. You would 100% be our first choice if we were ever faced with tribunal again.
Ruth
“John was professional and yet accessible and down to earth. He has an in-depth working knowledge of the SEND system which allowed him to work collaboratively with our solicitor and to the timelines determined by our Tribunal process. We found his report insightful and yet respectful of our daughter and her needs. From our perspective he brought value in determining and defining the difference between attachment and autism and the adaptations that would best support her to access the curriculum. Having commissioned previous reports, John’s report was unique in its specificity which consequently transposed easily into our daughters EHCP. I would not hesitate to recommend him.”
Mariam
“I am very happy I met John Pugh, EP and used his help to assess my both boys and will not hesitate to use his expertise in the future. It was one of the best things we did to help them academically and support them mentally.
We felt that the boys were struggling so much in school and didn’t know why. John the EP identified their strengths and weaknesses, prior to taking their history as part of the report- it was a couple of pages of recommendations of how we could help our children progress in different areas, and suggested ASD.
We now have taken John’s report to other professionals such as a psychologist who can carry out a full assessment and diagnose our boys with ASD. Both of my boys have been diagnosed with ASD thanks to John Pugh. I would not have known this if this was not suggested in the report. It’s helped us now to understand their needs in a day to day basis- it has turned our life’s around with them positively, as we now know how to help them and have provided this information to school.
The school now are also trying to help our children with the strategies suggested by John Pugh, understanding the new diagnoses of ASD.
Thank you for all your help honesty and support!”
Anne
“My experience of the services provided by Dr John Pugh (Primus Psychology) was seamless. It amazed me how much he could understand my child’s needs in a comparably short time to that provided previously. The professional way everything was dealt with and with empathy and compassion to both my child and myself as parent. Consequently, my child is currently in the right educational setting for his needs and we owe thanks to Primus Psychology for this happy outcome.”
Georgia
“I used Primus Psychology to evidence the need for my daughter needing an EHCP and to help us transition from primary to secondary. I found the service very thorough and professional, but also very personally tailored to our needs. Mr Pugh changed a very daunting situation, a stressful one for us as parents, into a process that was calm and informative. He spoke to us alone initially for background and gave us the opportunity to talk, but more importantly, he listened to our fears and concerns. He met with my daughter in the school setting, she said “she had a special visitor who was really tall, friendly, and they played some games whilst they chatted”. My daughter felt comfortable, he made her feel at ease and she was unphased by it all. The report was thorough and accurate about her abilities and needs and enabled us to move forward and get the support my daughter needed. I found it a positive experience and would recommend Primus Psychology to anybody. Without this service I don’t think we would have got school, or the local authority to put in the extra support she needs.”
Dee
“I got details of Dr John Pugh from the national autistic website. From the moment he was involved I have not regretted this decision. The service I have received has been of the best quality, Dr John Pugh is not only extremely professional but also empathetic which is valued as a parent. Dr John Pugh understood the needs of our daughter which were complex and helped us to get the support we needed. His input has been invaluable. As a parent, he explained the process and helped me to understand what is going on for our daughter. The service received is second to none. I would recommend his services and know that other highly trained professionals who has seen his reports are also impressed with the level of detail and insight into complex conditions.”
Sally
“We appointed John to provide an assessment on our son’s progress to support us in a tribunal hearing to have our son placed in an alternative residential placement. John produced a comprehensive report and acted as one of our expert witnesses at the hearing. John was extremely eloquent in his delivery. He took command of the room and was not at all swayed or faltered at any cross examination. The judge made reference to his professional delivery. We felt John, in such a short space of time, had got to know our son very well establishing his specific needs very precisely. We are forever grateful for his support and would not hesitate in recommending him to others”
Anne
“We were recommended Dr Pugh by our solicitor as we needed an Educational report for our local Council as part of our EHCP application. We were on holiday nearby and he kindly agreed to meet us at short notice and carry out the analysis. He was very professional and put our son at ease throughout the meeting. The report was comprehensive, and I firmly believe that it helped provide the evidence to obtain the EHCP for our son.”
Sarah
“We used Dr John Pugh from Primus Psychology as an expert witness at the educational tribunal for our son who has severe special educational needs. John was excellent throughout the whole process and we highly recommend him. His initial assessment of our son’s needs was thorough, fair and very accurate. His approachable style and attention to detail were outstanding and it was his expertise and sound knowledge of special educational needs which resulted in us winning our educational tribunal.”
Dean
“From start to finish, the services provided by John were impeccable. John listened to all of the concerns regarding my son and then carried out a thorough assessment and then provided us with a detailed, comprehensive report that set out concise and clear findings as well as recommendations.
I can’t thank John enough for all his hard work and continued support.”