One of my sons did very poorly in school. I remember asking him if he ever got into any fights, and he said, "Dad, the kids all left me alone, because I was best friends with the toughest kid in the school".
When my son finally left school, he managed to get work as a cook in various restaurants, but at the end of each year when he was due to get benefits, they would hire someone else and let him go. This went on for years when he decided that he should get more education by going to SAIT.
He applied to SAIT, and was told his grades were too low to gain entrance. So he decided to upgrade and applied for funding with the government and was turned down. He appealed and was turned down. He wrote the government a letter and said, "I'm not on welfare, I'm not an immigrant, I'm not doing time, I'm just an ordinary Alberta citizen that needs help". Somehow his letter must have struck a cord and they sent him to a psychologist in Banff where he was diagnosed with ADHD, and told there was no reason he could not be successful with further education. So they granted him funding to upgrade, and he spent the next three years upgrading to a college graduation level with Columbia College, He then reapplied to the cooking course a SAIT where he graduated two years later.
He then got a steady job as a cook with one of the Clubs, where he apprenticed, eventually writing and successfully receiving his Journeyman and Red Seal certificates.
We are so proud of him, It just goes to show that in spite of all the obstacles that some kids have with ADHD, they can still overcome them and be successful.
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