On Monday, April 3, Andria Mayberry, the single mom who raised one of “Empire’s” rising stars, and the author of Before Empire: Raising Bryshere ‘Yazz The Greatest’ Gray opens up about learning her son has ADHD and how he manages it now. She also reveals that while being her son’s manager, she’s kept her full-time job as a nurse.
She opens up to “The Real” hosts:
Andria Mayberry: Before five years old, it’s kind of hard to diagnose a child with ADHD, so when he became five, the school system … they had a lot of issues, behavior issues with him. And they decided, they said, “Well, he may need to be evaluated.” So I had to open my mind. Because at first I was like, “No, not my child.” But in order to effectively help him, again, I had to open my mind. And say, “let me just try it and see what happens and go from there.”
Adrienne Houghton: A lot of parents might even be offended, like “Wait, what do you mean?”
Loni Love: What were some of the signs? What made you question it?
Andria: What made me question it was, when I would tell him to do things, he wouldn’t do it. And when the school would also say, “Well, he’s getting up out of his seat. He’s walking out of class, out the classroom.” And that made me take notice to say, “Well let me just see, let me just open my mind and see what happens and go from there.“
Loni: Well now he is a very successful and sexy actor. How does he work through it? ‘Cause you know it stays.. How does he work through it now?
Andria: Well he doesn’t take the medicine anymore. He does holistic things and he also has an assistant, so the assistant helps him get through his day along with the staff ofEmpire. They help him with his lines or whatever he needs help with.
See the video, after the jump.
