For children with ADHD, low self esteem can be a major issue that dominates much of their school and home life. There could be incidents with peers at school and at home when children with ADHD may experience negative self esteem. Parents can truly help their ADHD child build positive self esteem.
When a child with ADHD misbehaves and is constantly criticized by teachers, peers and parents for negative behavior, his/her self esteem may become severely compromised impacting social and academic success. Parents can play an important role in building self esteem in their ADHD child. Here are some ideas in helping parents become active participants in building the self-esteem of their child:
- Try to find out the area of interest of your ADHD child. Give them time to do the activity in which they feel most interested. It could be arts, music, dance, painting, writing and reading. If your child is interested in a particular activity, make sure you provide time for you child to engage in his/her favorite activity daily to increase confidence in social and academic skill building.
- Children with ADHD may feel overwhelmed with school work. Add fun and pleasure in doing school work. Plan their workday by dividing the day into equal timeframes that include fun activities and school work activities that are fun. Try to include new activities every day to keep your child interested and engaged in daily activities.
- Completing a given task is a big achievement for every ADHD child. Having success energizes their mind and spirit. Recognize the success of your ADHD child in completing a list of given tasks and celebrate the success with your child. Do not forget to give a reward which could be praise and recognition or providing extra time or an outing for your child's achievement and accomplishments.
- To help your ADHD child build self esteem provide positive role models. Role models can be family members, the neighborhood librarian, their best friend or any adults or peers they choose to emulate who reciprocate by enhancing their self confidence and appreciating the value of their personal effort and hard work. Celebrate your child's accomplishments in front of his/her role models peers to make your child feel special.
You can build healthy self esteem and trust in children with ADHD by developing your child's social, academic and behavioral skills. By nurturing your child with unconditional trust and providing specific support in building self esteem capacity, parents are able to generate solid foundations of learning and expected socialization in and out of the classroom. Parents can act as teachers beyond the classroom by giving guidance, planning, organizing and following through in helping children with ADHD acquire individualized skills in building self esteem and other lifelong skills needed in school communities and at home.