If you saw us in public, you would never look twice. We have two kids – one each – a girl and a boy, three dogs and two cats. We live in a middle class neighborhood in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA. We drive the mandatory mini-van and have a second non-descript car. There is nothing that stands out about us. We look like just about every other family in our area. The difference is we aren’t every other family. Despite our outward “normal” appearances we, like many, harbor secrets behind closed doors. Ours is not a secret so dark that we fear being found out. For us, it really isn’t a secret at all, but for many in America the subject is taboo. Many don’t want to talk about it; either out of fear, ignorance or both. No one wants to deal with an entire system that is failing a large portion of society affected by this “secret”. Often the topic is glossed over with “but they look normal” or “you would never know”. While meant to be positive comments it’s something we feel strongly furthers the ignorance on the topic of our society. That of mental health, specifically mental health in children, even more specifically "invisible disabilities", how these children are affected, how they are served or not served in schools, the plethora of specialists the families see trying to understand and help, the battles the families fight for these children. We are hoping this page and our blog is one door to opening a dialogue that so desperately needs to happen. This is only one family's story…there are many more out there.
