Conversations with Dhruti Contractor

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dhruti Contractor.

Hi Dhruti, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
By occupation and training, I am double board certified in orthopedic surgery and hand surgery and am a military veteran. I lead my life with the principle to serve and empower. Along with the support of my family, it is my grit and faith that allowed me to achieve my goals as a surgeon and a soldier.
I am also a mom of two neurodivergent children, which has been the most challenging but fulfilling part of my life.
Both my children have ADHD. One of my children also is autistic and has had a very different journey than other kids his age. He started therapy at the age of 10 months. Therapy was his shadow. He didn’t have time for extracurricular activities as he was going to medical treatments, occupational, speech, or social skills therapy. There were medications to manage, evaluations to do, and accommodations and services to fight for. Though his progress was slow, I was proud of every win. Though I worked full time as a surgeon, I submerged myself into learning about neurodivergence and building his skills for life. I worked hand in hand with his providers to maximize his potential.
As he grew into adolescence, his progress did not match the effort he made. Why did therapy not generalize into life?
It took me a while before I realized that as a surgeon, I was desperately looking for something to fix.
His differences did not limit him in any way.
It was agency that he lacked because of years of being told what skills to build and milestones to achieve.
I did not need to make him like anyone else. I needed to foster his grit. No matter what his challenge, if I could give him the resilience, the insight and the motivation to achieve his dreams and the skills, he could get anywhere into anything he wanted.
As a teen, he had aged out of therapy and he could not relate to me. I looked around and could not find a mentorship program that fit my son. So I found and trained a mentor for him who was a few years older, and it made all the difference. He found his voice, his self esteem, and gained skills.
After seeing the difference this made in my son, I expanded this mentorship program to help other neurodiverse children. The program was through volunteer efforts for a year and I continued to see the effectiveness of mentorship and the endless demand for this unique program.
I then pivoted to make it into a business so I could maintain quality and expand the program further. I continue to use my years of experience in teaching executive functioning and mentoring to train mentors to be the ideal and effective role models for neurodiverse teens and adolescents.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest struggle is getting the word out to the target population. Having gone through this journey myself as a parent of a neurodivergent child, I built a solid foundation based on gaps and what I have seen to be effective. But I am entering a market where parents are saturated with activities and therapies they have for their children already. So marketing for this business has been slow as it is through word-of-mouth and recommendations from other providers who see the value in this program.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
This is the only peer mentorship program that focuses on neurodiverse teens.
We have trained college students who do weekly virtual mentorship sessions.

Why we are different is
The program builds the mentee’s agency and allows the mentee to lead the sessions. They decide what skills they want to build and are then motivated to work on them.
We have relatable peer mentors that connect with the mentees and inspire them.
We are virtual and flexible.
We work with parents weekly and help address barriers to growth along the way.
We work on social, emotional, executive functioning, academic, and life skills.

Every mentee in the program has made consistent, measurable progress in the specific skills they chose to focus on.
Our program is built around setting clear, incremental goals and tracking measurable growth each week. We prioritize fostering a sense of agency in each mentee, collaborating with parents to address any barriers, and nurturing a supportive mentor-mentee relationship. About 50% of parents have continued with the program for 6 months, and the remainder have stayed for a year or more. Mentees tell us they value the program because 1) they feel comfortable speaking with a relatable older peer mentor, and 2) they appreciate the opportunity to “lead” the sessions. That sense of ownership and comfort is exactly the grit and empowerment we aim to nurture.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I have networked through the contacts I built over the years with the providers who cared for my son.
My advice is to be fearless in speaking about what you love. I find it is natural, since I am passionate about the goal and mission of this business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.gritpowered.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grit.powered?igsh=ZWpma2ZyYmthNTV5&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/12MXX3XDTay/?mibextid=LQQJ4d