Visions for Tomorrow, Prince William County NAMI giving hope and understanding

Disorders Class Aims To Help Parents
Group Gives Chance To Cope, Connect
By Ian Shapira
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 5, 2009; Page PW03

Jeri Weeks remembers the disorienting feeling of learning for the first time that her son had schizophrenia. He was 18, and she couldn't track down enough information about the brain disorder that was hampering her son's reasoning and making him withdraw socially.

Weeks called a hotline for the Arlington County-based nonprofit National Alliance on Mental Illness, and over time and with plenty of help, the disarray receded.

"I was very distraught, but NAMI led me to a support group, and that led me to start my own support group, and after all these years, my son is doing well," Weeks said.

Weeks is doing well herself; she's a vice president of Prince William County's chapter of NAMI and this month will begin co-teaching a weekly session aimed at helping Prince William parents or caregivers of children with brain disorders.

The "Visions for Tomorrow" course, in its ninth year, will cater to a large swath of adults whose children suffer in a significant way from behavioral or mental health problems such as depression, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, autism and several others. The free course, every Wednesday night beginning April 22 at Penn Elementary in Woodbridge, is intended to aid parents who lack support networks or are in denial that their child will suffer for a long time, school and NAMI officials said.
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Disorders Class Aims To Help Parents