Leo Hernandez-Nuñez loves time on his skateboard.
“I skateboard whenever I can,” Hernandez-Nunez said.
It’s freeing for the 14-year-old who will be a high school freshman in the fall, after spending years struggling to overcome ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
“I was getting in fights. I wasn’t able to pay attention and it was hard for me to focus on important things,” Hernandez-Nuñez said.
“Leo would be very moody. He would lash out in anger, yelling, not listening,” said Leo’s mom, Jacinda Hernandez.
When Leo was age 11, Jacinda knew something had to change.
“I was like this is enough. I need to get him some help,” Hernandez said.
Local
Through his pediatrician, Leo and his mom were directed to a program through Lurie Children’s Hospital.
“It can be challenging for kids to access care, particularly those of underserved populations and communities of color,” said Dr. Rebecca Ford-Paz, a clinical child psychologist with Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly> Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
But Dr. Ford-Paz says families like Leo’s are helping to chip away at the stigma associated with mental health.
“The more people talking about mental health, more people normalizing that it's okay to not be okay,” said Ford-Paz. “And that there are people out there who can help. I think then hopefully the more people can get help.”
Leo was given prescription medications to take and had weekly visits with a psychologist he clicked with.
“I called him Dr. Strange because he was a stranger and I like superheroes and what not, so I called him Dr. Strange and he rolled with it,” Hernandez-Nuñez said.
The psychologist, Dr. John Parkhurst, taught Leo to ride his emotions like he rides his board.
“What I learned was, like, how to share my emotions, how to express them and how to tell people how I am feeling so conflicts don’t happen,” Hernandez-Nuñez said.
Leo had two goals in therapy - be active and get a job this summer. He landed his dream job involving skate boarding, through an After School Matters program.
“What I’m doing here is making new friends and learning how to do more on my board I get to learn how to film and edit,” Hernandez-Nuñez said.
“This is such a huge accomplishment for him,” his mom said.
Even when he falls off his board, Leo says he’s learned a new trick through therapy.
“No matter what you go through, there always is somebody there,” Hernandez-Nuñez said.
“If you see your child or yourself struggling there is help out there,” Jacinda Hernandez said. “You don’t have to be ashamed of wanting to get that help.”
