Parents discuss 'Great Days Ahead' and ADHD.
Man: We kind of knew something was going on with Braden when he was younger. Seemed to be really active. People kept telling us that he was just a boy, but it kind of started in kindergarten, when his kindergarten teacher came to us and said, "I think your son has maybe some type of ADHD or, you know, we need to get it looked at."
Woman: By the end of that week, we were having him evaluated by the counselor at school, a therapist had been called, and a psychiatrist came in and evaluated him in school the second week. He was diagnosed within the second week of kindergarten.
I was devastated at first to know that he's going to have to deal with this for the rest of his life, but then on the other side, it was also a relief because it was like, okay, I knew something was off, that he wasn't able to be the best Braden he could be, and so it was also a relief that we had now a path to go on to help him.
The first day we met Dr. Bowers, I think I learned the biggest lesson from him, and that was that he's not there to fix Braden because Braden didn't need fixing, but he was there to help us be better parents for him. Going in, I thought, okay, well he's going to help solve all these issues for Braden, and it really wasn't that. It was solving the issues that my husband and I had in parenting and how we had to switch our parenting skills. He was just very particular about parenting versus Braden. I didn't think it was going to work at first, but after that first week of leaving with the tools that he had given us, it was amazing the changes that we were able to see right away with just some of the basics.
Man: I look at this as a what to expect when you have an ADHD child kind of book, where it's kind of like step by step instructions to try to help guide you through having a child with ADHD.
Woman: Anybody I've come across, they tend to be drawn to us. "Oh, we hear you have an ADHD child," because we don't hide it. It's not anything to be ashamed of, and I always suggest, "Oh, you should go see Dr. Bowers," but you can only see so many people. I think this will be an amazing tool that, you know, they'll be able to sit down in the comfort of their home and look at it and be confident that this will help them if they follow it.
He's entering fifth grade this year and he is doing very well. He has a group of friends. He is much better now at being able to control his impulses in school as well as at home with his brothers and with Mom and Dad. Academically, he's doing awesome. Ever since kindergarten, he has continued to excel academically, and we really couldn't be prouder of the success that he has had.
