How can we Help our Daughters with ADHD to Develop Positive Self-Esteem?
That being said, what are some additional ways that your daughters with ADHD can build upon their positive self-esteem?
As I tell the children with whom I work, each person has specific strengths and “intelligences,” as Howard Gardner has proposed in his theory of multiple intelligences. Due to the symptoms that girls with ADHD experience, they often find it difficult in terms of believing that they have any special talents.
So, what do these girls believe about themselves?
They arguably think about how differently they feel than girls who do not have ADHD. Additionally, and even more upsetting, these girls arguably believe that other girls perceive them as being different.
That being said, it is imperative
for parents to talk candidly to their daughters about how they feel
about having ADHD, in terms of understanding the impact that ADHD has on
their ability to achieve academically, as well as the way that the
symptoms of their ADHD affect them socially.
The most important point for girls
with ADHD to realize and to believe is that even though they may not
excel in math or science, for example, they each have areas in which
they do excel. For example, one child may be gifted in music, while
another child may be talented in art. Parents should talk to their
daughters about how they can become better and better at their unique
talents.
Why is it so important that girls
with ADHD become aware of their specific strengths and work hard to
improve upon those gifts? The talents and gifts that girls with ADHD
possess can be used as a vehicle to making friends, especially in high
school. If our daughters with ADHD have a niche as they approach high
school, they will feel comfortable in knowing that they have a group in
which to belong.
Oftentimes, making friends is very difficult for
children with ADHD, and may be especially difficult for girls with ADHD.
Why is this so? Even though they try very hard to fit in, their
symptoms of distractibility and excessive verbiage may cause other girls
to rebuff them. As we all know, some girls may exclude other girls whom
they see as different, and girls with ADHD may arguably fall into that
category.
However, if girls have certain
talents or abilities, they may automatically gain acceptance into a
group of girls who have similar skills. So, as the summer approaches,
talk to your daughters candidly about their distinctive talents. Find a
way that these girls can use the time off from the pressures of school
to build upon their talents, which will enable them to find a group of
friends much more easily when school begins again in the Fall, and as a
result, increase their positive self-esteem.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario