Jack is Cool
Donation protected
Many of you know me and how I care about mental illness, breaking down the stigmas that surround it, and encouraging those who need help to ask for it. Well, my son needs help, but he is too young to ask for it himself, and as his mother, it is my job to advocate for him.
So this is me, asking you to help me help my son.
So, this is my son Jack. He is a funny, intelligent, talented 8 years old human. He makes everyone smile, loves drawing, legos and Zelda video games. He also never stops eating (even though he has a ton of food allergies.)
He is wonderful, but he is also struggling and has been since early childhood with impulsive, harmful, inappropriate, worrisome behaviors. When he was a baby, I felt like I had to constantly watch him or something bad would happen, and every year it got worse. I do not want to divulge too many of the intimate details of his behavior because
1) they are his stories to tell, not mine
2) they embarrass him
but I will say that it has been a very challenging 8 years with him, for him and I both.
His first school teacher recommended we take him to a therapist less than 2 months into the school year. His obsessive, sometimes aggressive behaviors worried her. So we took him. He has been in therapy sver since he was 4 and nothing has seemed to work. It is hard to diagnose such a young child in general, but with the issues that he faces it’s even more difficult. It has gotten to the point where he can not function in a classroom setting without being isolated and now he is no longer allowed to remain at his current school because he is now a legal liability for the school. He was expelled last year after several suspensions (one in which the police were called), he attended alternative school, I attempted home school but I had no idea what I was doing so I just had him repeat first grade, and now he risks again not finishing because of his issues. On top of the behavioral issues he has, his self esteem is all but non existent and it hurts me so much. We are to the point that we want to attempt to medicate him, but his pediatrician is reluctant to prescribe him a general medication since he has multiple diagnoses and any child psychiatrist that I have reached out to isn’t taking new patients until August.
We have tried so many things. Between the therapists, counselors, social workers, psycho-neurologist, group therapy, and evaluations we have all endured over the last few years...it is clear that something is very wrong, and needs to be acted on...but no one knows what to tell us. This has more than disheartened us all. How can there be such limited resources available? He is either too young, too old, not troubled enough or too troubled for any program we have found, not to mention that all of them cost more than my rent or salary.
This is where you come in. We have finally found a program that I think will be a good step in the direction of getting him the help he needs. Behavioral disorders can develop into more severe issues as he grows, but if we can get out in front of each, help him manage it, teach him coping skills and learn ways to assist him with what he needs, we can avoid the issues he has now growing into irreversible problems. Children are so resilient and I believe in my son, please donate and share share share this. Any donation will help.
He can start the program immediately as soon as we have at least half of my goal raised. Please help.
So this is me, asking you to help me help my son.
So, this is my son Jack. He is a funny, intelligent, talented 8 years old human. He makes everyone smile, loves drawing, legos and Zelda video games. He also never stops eating (even though he has a ton of food allergies.)
He is wonderful, but he is also struggling and has been since early childhood with impulsive, harmful, inappropriate, worrisome behaviors. When he was a baby, I felt like I had to constantly watch him or something bad would happen, and every year it got worse. I do not want to divulge too many of the intimate details of his behavior because
1) they are his stories to tell, not mine
2) they embarrass him
but I will say that it has been a very challenging 8 years with him, for him and I both.
His first school teacher recommended we take him to a therapist less than 2 months into the school year. His obsessive, sometimes aggressive behaviors worried her. So we took him. He has been in therapy sver since he was 4 and nothing has seemed to work. It is hard to diagnose such a young child in general, but with the issues that he faces it’s even more difficult. It has gotten to the point where he can not function in a classroom setting without being isolated and now he is no longer allowed to remain at his current school because he is now a legal liability for the school. He was expelled last year after several suspensions (one in which the police were called), he attended alternative school, I attempted home school but I had no idea what I was doing so I just had him repeat first grade, and now he risks again not finishing because of his issues. On top of the behavioral issues he has, his self esteem is all but non existent and it hurts me so much. We are to the point that we want to attempt to medicate him, but his pediatrician is reluctant to prescribe him a general medication since he has multiple diagnoses and any child psychiatrist that I have reached out to isn’t taking new patients until August.
We have tried so many things. Between the therapists, counselors, social workers, psycho-neurologist, group therapy, and evaluations we have all endured over the last few years...it is clear that something is very wrong, and needs to be acted on...but no one knows what to tell us. This has more than disheartened us all. How can there be such limited resources available? He is either too young, too old, not troubled enough or too troubled for any program we have found, not to mention that all of them cost more than my rent or salary.
This is where you come in. We have finally found a program that I think will be a good step in the direction of getting him the help he needs. Behavioral disorders can develop into more severe issues as he grows, but if we can get out in front of each, help him manage it, teach him coping skills and learn ways to assist him with what he needs, we can avoid the issues he has now growing into irreversible problems. Children are so resilient and I believe in my son, please donate and share share share this. Any donation will help.
He can start the program immediately as soon as we have at least half of my goal raised. Please help.
Organizer
Natalie Meagan
Organizer
Memphis, TN
