There were many yrs of tutoring Nate, helping him with life's situations as they came up, going to counselors, deciding on medications, getting further diagnosis, dealing with a very difficult marriage. I was on my own with helping Nate because his father didn't believe that anything was wrong with him, only that he wasn't well behaved. I knew the difficult behavior was a result of something going on in his brain & that harsh discipline was not the answer.

Nate's biological father, was an abuser & it was in Sept 1994, that I finally got the courage to take the kids & leave him. So I was a single mother for several yrs, doing everything I could to help Nate & his sister. I had always felt like a single mother, the biggest difference at this time was having to support the two children & myself. I also suffered from clinical depression myself, and was medicated for that. These 3 yrs were extremely difficult, but I had, at least, finally rescued the children & myself from yrs of abuse.

It is very common for families to fall apart when there is a mental health issue involved. Nate was not yet diagnosed as having Asperger's Syndrome, just very much ADHD.