Raising Frankie

Book excerpt: As a college student, he was blessed to become a student intern in the Information Technology (IT) department where he continued to increase his computer skills as a part-time computer lab assistant and a computer troubleshooter. These roles pushed his skilled to a brand-new level. “After the internship was over, I followed my instructor everywhere he went so I could learn everything I could. I even stayed after hours to glean from his knowledge.” His instructor told him that he had never met anyone like him before. Someone who was hungry for knowledge. After graduating with a degree in computer science, he was offered a part-time job in the IT department. That job later became full-time. As a contributing co-author to Raising Frankie, he visited his parents twice a week to proofread and suggest any changes he felt were necessary. They wanted to make sure he was comfortable with every line before it went to publication. Since he has embraced the book, the three of us hope readers will share its content to assist anyone they know who is or have dealt with ADHD. Brenda is a retired educator who lives with her husband in North Carolina. During her academic career, she served in several capacities in the educational arena. These positions included teaching academically gifted to disadvantaged and handicapped students in high school, high school assistant principal, and supervisor/director of Career Technical Education Programs. She has also taught on the community college level. In her community, she serves on several church auxiliaries to include serving as a deaconess, member of the senior usher board, and as a Sunday school teacher. Because of her experiences working with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD)—via students and their teachers—she wanted to share her knowledge and experiences with others through Raising Frankie. She hopes that loving and living this work will positively impact the lives of others as it has the Moody family. Frankie L. Moody Sr. (Moody), coauthor, is a United States Army Veteran and a retired lieutenant with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. Presently, he is actively serving as a church deacon, president of the male ushers, Security Team member, Cub Scout Den Leader, and as a literacy tutor (for adults) with Triangle South Literacy Works. He also is employed part-time to transport people to and from medical appointments. In his years of working with people, Moody often imparted words of wisdom and encouragement whenever the opportunity presented itself. Brenda and Moody worked passionately together to first of all understand the characteristics of ADHD. Secondly, to embrace Frankie’s diagnosis so they could help him to deal with whatever he may have encountered academically as well as socially during his formative years. Toward that end, Moody spent his days off each week serving as a teacher assistant’s when Frankie was in elementary school. He also chaperoned every field trip and assisted with all of his sport activities. During high school, we worked together as a team to support Frankie as needed—to include how to handle unwarranted bullying. During high school and college, we realized that Frankie needed space to make his own decisions. With that said, we were always available and ready to activate whatever actions as were necessary to help Frankie to be successful without encroaching on his “I can do it on my own” abilities.