Hello lovely readers / followers / friends. As always, thanks for giving us your time and we really hope you enjoy this week’s installment. Another busy week so lets get into it 🙂
As both a mum and as a non profit founder I have been volunteering “in school” 1:1 support for the last decade. Firstly, for Awesome Archie himself and now with any student that has yet to have a fully funded 1:1 when they deserve one. I am now privileged to support a young child in the beautiful William Gilpin School and it’s here that we were introduced to SCARF.
We celebrated with a “wear a scarf to school day” and in WG’s morning assembly the headteacher – Simon Croutear – explained…
“Children’s mental health week is about celebrating ALL children. It’s about reflecting and respecting that we are all unique, different and we all have something to give back to our community. You could be a great leader, a problem solver, a supporter of good. The SCARF values represent us all -Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience, Friendship.”
He then went on to announce that many of the children had shown these values throughout the week. These pupils had been praised for keeping spirits high, not giving up with blending of CVC words, helping friends, sharing ideas, being inclusive and kind… I could go on!
To be honest, I felt a bit teary as it reminded me of a quote that we, as a team stand by.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzky.
It’s a tough old world when you are growing up and when you are neurodivergent, it’s even tougher. There have been MANY times in my life where I have felt like a complete failure. I’ve been misunderstood, told I’m too loud, too wacky and, each time, I have felt less and less valuable, less able to contribute to society and less accepted… until now of course 🙂
The WG pupils are so lucky to be reminded that having a go, trying and not succeeding (yet) is a valuable opportunity for growth. It’s so much better to try and even when the outcome is not as expected, it gives you a chance to reflect. To see that you’re still ok, even after things haven’t gone as planned.
So, let’s celebrate ourselves. Embrace our unique brains, our individuality, our own gifts and talents and share them as best we can for the benefit of our community and our own mental health.
Thanks for allowing AANP to take part 🙂
Archie’s latest hospital check up.
As many of you will already know, ADHD medication changed not only Archie’s life, but ours as a family too. Not every child will need to be medicated for their ADHD but for Arch, it was genuinely his life saver. After 8 years of therapy, vitamin supplements, hours and hours of parenting courses, multiple books read… it was our last resort.
THANK GOD WE DID!
Because of his type of medication we have to abide by many very important rules, one of which is attending a six monthly in-hospital check ups. Archie is weighed, measured and his blood pressure is checked. He has a chat with his incredible pediatric team and they support and advise us in which ever areas we are struggling in. Massive thanks to the team and the CDC, you are AWESOME!
Archie flew through all of his recent checks with flying colours 🙂
It’s also on that same note that we want to personally thank Alex Partridge. His latest book “Now It All Makes Sense” is a must read for ADHD’ers, particularly those not yet or late to being diagnosed. I am only half way through and, already, I can confirm that it is simply brilliant and we highly recommend it. Rich and Roxanne Pink have called it “a powerhouse of a book” and I have to agree.
When I have finished it I will be writing a full blog to celebrate.
Have a great week all 🙂