Diagnosed with ADHD when he was in Kindergarten, Albert went on medication to avoid being held back a grade. Before his parents knew it, Albert was feeling sad constantly, and by the time he had reached the third grade, he had been on 6 different medications, none of which worked as his parents hoped. Then they found EMPowerplus, and everything changed.
We’d like you to know how EMPowerplus has helped our son Albert.
We, as parents, noticed signs early (pre K) that our son had attention span problems. He was professionally diagnosed with ADHD before the start of first grade (year 2001). It was “highly suggested” that we medicate our son or risk our son being held back. Reluctantly and with much hesitation, we put our son on Adderall with the start of first grade.
At first, there seemed to be improvement, but within 3 months, there seemed to be nothing but bad effects on our son. Soon, the doctor prescribed an antidepressant to counteract the effects of the Adderall. Nobody at this young age should need antidepressants. Our son was just so sad all of the time. It was as if he forgot how to be happy.
Through the next year and a half, our son was put on Adderall XL, Remeron, Wellbutrin, Wellbutrin SR, and last, but not least, Strattera. We were happy to hear that Strattera was not a stimulant, but the side effects were worse than any of the other meds put together. Our son would scream that the TV always had to be on, and that was the only way he would sleep. He started stabbing himself in the hand with his pencil when he was unable to do a task at school.
Through all this time, we had many conferences with the school and the “team” that was designed to help our son. It was always agreed during these meetings that it was clear that Al was a very bright boy, but with no way of channeling his intelligence.
Then one day while watching the Discovery Channel, his dad saw a program on EMPowerplus. He made the necessary phone calls and thought this might help our son. We started the EMPowerplus during Christmas break of his third grade. By New Years, we saw improvement. Now that the end of the school term is here, we thought you would like to know about his success thus far:
- First and foremost, our son is happy. It has been so long since we’ve seen him happy. This truly is one of the many great benefits of EMPowerplus.
- Al took what could only be described as a poor report card to one of A’s and B’s.
- He plays with other kids. In the past, he felt so bad about himself that he wouldn’t participate in any school or playground games. Now he goes out almost every day and tries very hard to make new friends.
- For the first time since he started school, we finally had a good teacher conference in April 2004. All of his teachers commented on how happy he is and how well he is doing.
- As with all children, he faces the normal difficulties. But unlike before, when he fails at a task and gets mad, he gets over it.
- We’ve seen so much improvement in our son over the last 6 months that it’s hard to tell of each and every success. But you should know that Al was picked as Student of the Month for May for the student that demonstrated the most improvement.
- He now reads and writes stories on his own. This is a task that would’ve been out of the question before EMPowerplus.
There are so many ways in which EMPowerplus has helped our son. We now tell anyone and everyone about our success.
With much appreciation,
Al and Lynda Powell