Parenting

Chezzi Denyer reveals daughter Sailor’s recent ADHD diagnosis led to her own surprising realisation

''It’s not a disability; it’s my superpower.''
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Grant and Chezzi Denyer promised fans they would get candid and honest on all things pertaining to their lives when they announced their new podcast It’s All True? last week.

And they’ve definitely delivered on that promise.

After recently revealing their daughter Sailor had been diagnosed with ADHD, the beloved duo used their second episode to discuss how the realisation came about and how it led Chezzi to being diagnosed with the same disorder.

Home schooling led Grant and Chezzi to the initial realisation that “something wasn’t right” with Sailor’s attention and retention while learning.

“I noticed nothing going in, no retention, no ability to repeat anything back to me, and I thought what is going on here?” Grant revealed on the podcast.

Chezzi revealed the diagnosis in a recent post where she praised her daughter’s poise and perseverance.

(Instagram)

Chezzi admits her immediate response was to blame herself.

“She kept saying to me ‘Mum, I’m really dumb’,” Chezzi recounted.

“It is heartbreaking, you don’t want your child to say that. I blamed myself at that point.”

Talking to the child psychologist they had begun taking Sailor to see, the symptoms soon became clear.

“She started asking me a couple of questions, like ‘Does she find it difficult to make decisions in the morning, does it seem like she daydreams a bit?’

“The more we started talking, she said, ‘Have you ever thought she could potentially have inattentive ADHD?'”

Chezzi initially blamed home schooling woes on herself.

(Instagram)

With Sailor not fitting the stereotypical traits they believed a child with ADHD possessed, Chezzi’s reaction was pure surprise.

“Sailor, No, she’s my good child! She’s not hyperactive and naughty, that’s Scout!” she laughed.

The couple made the “difficult decision” to trial her on medication, despite initially being a “hard no” to the idea, due to the “stigma”.

But the results were undeniable.

The doting parents were hesitant to turn to medication.

(Instagram)

Chezzi also decided to “investigate” the potential diagnosis as she “believed I had ADHD at school”, based on everything the psychologist had said.

“The more I researched ADHD, the more I think I’ve got it. I know how much harder it made my life,” she realised.

“I did a questionnaire,” Chezzie said, before Grant chimned in: “I’ve got it here in front of me. I read the questionnaire the first time and I thought ‘Oh my god Chezzi you’ve got it [ADHD]. I couldn’t believe it.”

It’s a diagnosis she’s taken in her stride.

“It’s not a disability; it’s my superpower, because now I know what it is and I recognise it. Now I know to utilise my strengths.”

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