Thursday, September 22, 2011

Bridgeway Academy Fundraiser: A school for children who have ADHD

Good Morning Everyone,

This post holds a very special place in my heart and I hope you will all join me in helping a Dr. Camilla Hancock-Friesen that works in my home town who is trying to raise money for Bridgeway Academy.  This is a special school that teaches children who have special learning abilities, ADHD and behavioral problems.  They provide special size classrooms so that the kids get that one on one attention they so badly need. 

My oldest son has ADHD/ODD (Attention Deficet Hyperactive Disorder & Oppositional Defiant Disorder), my youngest is borderline ADHD and my boyfriend has ADHD as well and I have OCD.  When my oldest was younger I fought for years to try and get him into this school, the cost is $15,000.000 per year, I just didn't have the money, I fought the public school system to help him have a decent education that he has a right to that every "normal" child has a right to, but, because the public system does not recognize it as a "Real" mental disorder he had such a rough time in school. He didn't graduate but is now 20 and doing well, he works full time for 2 jobs and has lots of friends now, my youngest is in grade 11 and doing ok. My boyfriend struggles everyday as we are still trying to find the right medicine for him, but he is doing ok otherwise. 

I am doing this post to help with this fundraiser not only because it's so close to home for me, but, because I think it should be talked about more, and made aware of that this is not a case of having a hard to manage child/adult, it's a REAL Mental Disorder and the more people accept that the more we can find out more about it and help those who have it.  I have 2 links for you to follow, one is the Academy's website if you want to learn more about the school http://www.bridgeway-academy.com/, and the other is a link to a video on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLiToxgeH6E

If you are able to vote and donate even something small that would be a huge help for this amazing school that so many children need and can't afford.

Thank you everyone for your time and listening to me.  :)

Nattie

10 comments:

  1. I love your kids and always will and watching them those years I saw the struggle you had with teachers/ schools. I just want to say how great you and your kids are. <3 No matter what has come your way you always rise and overcome it. You are a great inspiration! xoxo Krys

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  2. Hi Nat!
    Very cool that you are putting this out there to help raise awareness and funds.

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  3. You have a wonderful heart Nat. Thank you for doing this post as for raising money for such a worthy cause. And thanks to this school for helpng children who need it. :)

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  4. Nattie<
    I can so relate to this as my oldest daughter has ADHD and she was on medication for many years. We had a lot of trouble in school because they automatically labeled her as a "problem child" and didn't want to work with her. Luckily my other two children don't have it. I myself have ADD and still struggle with it everyday. I have to keep to a strict schedule and maintain lists for everything to keep me focused.
    Thanks for this wonderful post,
    Sassy Siren Earth

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  5. Nat,

    Thank you so much for posting about this. My older child has ADHD and ODD. I understand the trials you went through. My son has ADHD and Dyslexic. I am so happy that I now homeschool both of them. When I took my daughter out of school in the 7th grade, she had an education of a 3rd grader because of the school system. They did not care at all about her! Same with my son, he was just getting into school in the 2nd grade when I took him out and noticed what was going on.

    Both my children are happy to be homeschooled. If I kept either of them in it would of been much worse for them and me. I know homeschooling is not for everyone. I am just saying what worked for us.

    I wish I could donate just a little bit, but at this time we cannot. When we are able and if the fundraiser is still going we will donate.

    Thank you once again for brining this to light. People don't understand about all this and they say that it's just something parents get diagonsed because they don't want to discipline their child. That is not always the truth!

    Tammy
    http://nrheartdragonsden.blogspot.com/
    Sassy Siren Sister

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  6. Oh Krystal, thank you so much, and If it hadn't been for you and your mom I would have never had been able to go to work knowing someone was there who loved my kids to watch over them. No matter what my kids put you through, you wouldn't leave me or them.
    They didn't turn out to bad for all the troubles we went through. :)
    Love you x0x0x0

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  7. Thank you Yadkny and Cambria, I just wish there's more I could do to make people aware how real this is. I love my kids so much, and I always said, "If Im not going to fight for them, who will".
    Love to you both
    x0x0x

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  8. Heather, consistency is the most important thing with children who have this disorder. They might not want it, but in the long run they see how important it is. It's always good when only one child and not all of them have it. Thanks for commenting.
    x0x0x

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  9. Thank you Tammy,
    This is such a huge topic for me, I have had many years of struggle and have fought so hard for my son, with school/kids and even other parents. The school/teachers didn't want to help him, the other kids didn't want to be friends with him cause he was different, and the parents didn't want anything to do with me because I had a bad kid, but, they didn't stop and take the time to get to see the real kid behind the problems.

    I tried to home school him but I had to work to support the family cause lord knows the now ex husband wasnt doing anything to support us. So I had no choice to keep him in public school. I fought for 4 years to get him into Bridgeway, but the government wouldn't give me the money to help him. Its sad really, they say kids are our future, but they don't want to do anything to help them reach their potential.

    Im glad you are home schooling your kids, its great and I wished I could have. Keep up the good job sweetie.

    I hate when people say it's the parents fault for not discipling their kids, if they did they wouldnt be like that. Im sorry but that is a very ignorant person. A person who hasn't taken the time to understand what these kids are really going through within their own minds.
    Many don't even know that these children are borderline brilliant and use parts of their brain we as adults never will. It's amazing what you learn when researching all of this, I have been researching it for 20 years now. I have learned so much.

    Thank you Tammy and everyone for your kind words. It means a lot to me.

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  10. I think awareness is very important that people understand and know of these things, My nephew has been told he has from slight traces of austims to adhd and what not else. It makes it hard for the mothers of these children as the funding it not available or if it does its costly. Its nice that you are spreading the word nat !! I hope you raise monies if not awareness for this wonderful cause. Alot of people judge without realizing and with people like you around to help to show awareness this is another big step .. thanks for the post lovley

    kat

    SSS

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