The ‘life changing’ journey Alex Nation has had with son Elijah in the last four months.

Former Bachelor winner Alex Nation has shared a touching Instagram post about her son’s health.

Four months ago, Alex noticed her seven-year-old son Elijah “wasn’t shining as bright as he usually does”, lacking confidence at school to the concern of his teachers.

“He was coming home from school saying things to me like ‘Mum I’m dumb’ and ‘Mum I’m stupid’. His confidence at school was completely shattered and it broke my heart,” the deeply personal post read.

After meeting with teachers and a gruelling two months of psychological testing, Elijah was diagnosed with severe dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia, and moderate ADHD.

Alex said while the information was overwhelming and she had to “fight back tears” during the appointment, finally having an explanation for Elijah’s low self-esteem was a relief.

“Now we knew and quite frankly having this knowledge is life changing for Elijah,” she said.

For the past 4 months, my little ray of sunshine simply wasn’t shining as bright as he usually does. Well, in my eyes he shines the brightest always, but in his own eyes it was a different story. He was coming home from school saying things to me like “Mum I’m dumb” and “Mum I’m stupid”. His confidence at school was completely shattered and it broke my heart. Struggling to read and write and finding it difficult to complete tasks at school his teacher contacted me and suggest he be tested for learning difficulties. We got in touch with Dimitra from Sprout Psychology who was kind, gentle and just so lovely and little man embarked on a 2 month journey of sessions and testing to see where he was at with his learning. Yesterday was our final session and Joel and I come to learn that Elijah has dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia all which he rated as severe and moderate ADHD(inattentive). To put it simply, reading, writing, maths, concentration and organisation are significant challenges for him and it was explained to us that he is quite impaired. Whilst I was feeling overwhelmed and holding back tears/balled my eyes out once I was alone in the car, I was relieved. Now we knew and quite frankly having this knowledge is life changing for Elijah. So many people go their whole lives with underlining learning difficulties and they struggle with day to day tasks and constantly question why? In fact, I’m one of those people. I’m certain I’ve been living with ADHD my whole life and just never really known or understood. This is an opportunity to really hone in on Elijah’s strengths, nurture them and implement the best strategies possible to aid him in moving onward and upward during his school years. If you have a child that is struggling in school, I highly recommend having them tested. It truly could make a huge difference in your child’s primary and secondary school experience. It’s a little expensive and it’s a little daunting but it doesn’t mean your child isn’t intelligent. Elijah’s IQ is that of an 11 year old!

A post shared by A • N (@alexandranation) on Aug 20, 2018 at 6:26pm PDT

She went on to say the diagnosis may have even shed light on her own struggles.

“I’m certain I’ve been living with ADHD my whole life and just never really known or understood,” she revealed.

While Alex, who won the heart of Richie Strahan in the 2016 season of The Bachelor, described the immense struggle she and Elijah’s dad Joel Porter faced over the four months leading up to the diagnosis, they are positive for the future of Elijah’s schooling.

“This is an opportunity to really hone in on Elijah’s strengths, nurture them and implement the best strategies possible to aid him in moving onward and upward during his school years,” she explained.

Alex, who plays for the Frankston Bombers Women’s AFL team, split from former Bachelor Richie Strahan shortly after the 2016 finale, and was most recently engaged to teammate Maegan Luxa. It is understood the two have since called off their engagement.

After Alex’s emotional journey with son Elijah, she has this piece of advice for parents:

“If you have a child that is struggling in school, I highly recommend having them tested. It truly could make a huge difference in your child’s primary and secondary school experience.”

The post has triggered a flood of support from followers, with fellow mums sharing their own experiences with learning difficulties and offering advice.

You can read the full post and comments here.