Getting involved with NAMI

Learn about: Getting involved with NAMI from Jay Gaylen,...
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Getting involved with NAMI

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So you may be wondering what NOMI (phonetic) is, or NAMI; National Alliance of Mental Illness and I really think they should rename themselves to the National Alliance of Mental Wellness because that illness has a stigma attached to it. They are an organization that is out there to help those that are dealing with issues in their home, with a child that has any number of mental illnesses, and they are there to provide you with resources so that you can get the services you need. I got involved with NAMI because we were lost. We didn't know what to do. Where do you turn to for help? We were referred to NAMI, made the phonecall, got involved in a class, took the six week course and throughout those six weeks, it was like, you know what? We're not alone here. We're learning a lot. We now have the ability to get some help that we sorely needed. And after the course was said and done, NAMI approached me and said, Jay, would you like to become a part of our organization? Would you help us by, you know, learning how to teach this course, going on the road, so-to-speak, and doing the parents and teachers allied program because parents need the school system to understand what's going on inside their homes, and they don't. Teachers don't know how to handle kids that have mental illness. They just figure they are strong willed children that are troublemakers and they kind of scoot them off to the side. So it's also a way to educate the school system. So they asked me to be a part of it and I couldn't say no because they were so helpful to us. I was so grateful for what this organization had done. I figured if I can help someone, I was going to do it.

Learn about: Getting involved with NAMI from Jay Gaylen,...

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Jay Gaylen

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Jay Gaylen is the dad of a now 22-year old daughter who was diagnosed as a teen with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), Bi-Polar II and ADHD. Jay and his wife, Renu, adopted Joslyn from Thailand. The process started when Joslyn was just nine months old. It took nearly two years to complete the adoption process — a good reason why Joslyn is a RAD kid. They sought help from numerous resources before discovering NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Jay began lecturing for NAMI’s Parents and Teachers as Allies program while being trained to teach the Family to Family and Basics courses.

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