We wanted to find the right school for our smart but quirky kid (ADHD but not officially diagnosed autistic but definitely socially awkward). If you post on DCUM, which I did, everyone tells you to post on the special needs forum and suggests that a “normal” school isn’t the right fit. Our kid is a non disruptive, intelligent child who just needed a school where there were a range of social phenotypes.

Our consultant helped us find the right schools where the school community - teachers and kids - would be welcoming to a non-sporty, nerdy awkward little guy. She also advocated for my kid to admissions, which we really think helped when it came to acceptances. If I had wanted him to go to Sitwell or St. Albans, I don’t think her advocacy would have helped, but because we picked the right schools, it really did IMO. So a good consultant can be very helpful if your kid is a square but wonderful peg. For my totally NT kid, she would do fine wherever and we didn’t use anyone.

A consultant 100% can influence admission. That is the most useful thing that one can do. “This family is good and this school is their #1 choice”. HS might be a little different. Lower/middle schools are evaluating families, not just kids.