Teachers declare: Boys suffer poor body image

Boys increasingly have low self-esteem about their body image, teachers warn.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers claims the promotion of ideal body images is reducing both boys' and girls' confidence in their own bodies.

Last year, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image recommended all children took part in compulsory body image and self-esteem lessons.

The union will discuss the issue of body image among pupils at its annual conference in Liverpool next week.

In a survey of 693 members across the UK, the union found 78% thought girls suffered low self-esteem and 51% thought boys had low confidence in their body image.

In addition, 59% of staff said that worries about body image made female pupils anxious and 30% said it caused anxiety in male pupils.

Some 55% said that girls were "ultra-sensitive" to comments about their appearance and 27% said boys took comments to heart.

Diets
Pressure to achieve the perfect body meant girls were likely to go on a diet, according to 54% of staff and boys were prone to start excessive exercise regimes, said 30% of those surveyed.

Asked where the pressure came from, 94% of those surveyed said they believed the media, including television, magazines, music videos, adverts and social media was the biggest influence on female pupils and also on male pupils (68%).

Peers of the same sex were also highlighted as a key cause of pressure on female pupils to look good by 83% of respondents and on male pupils by 54%.

A teacher at a secondary academy in Wandsworth, London, said: "I find that boys who are shorter than their peers are extremely sensitive and manifest either disruptive behaviour or are very withdrawn."

One early years teacher in England said: "I work with four to five-year-olds and some say things like, 'I can't eat cheese, it will make me fat!'"

A teacher at a secondary school in Northern Ireland said: "In my year 11 GCSE English class, the girls all openly admitted to feeling pressure about body image and many of the boys confessed to it too, although they said that usually they wouldn't admit to it affecting them.

A head of department at a secondary school in Exeter said: "Digital and social media are a nightmare with 'anonymous' sites that slate students in the most appalling terms on their appearance, personality and anything judge-able."

"Despite knowing about airbrushing, the girls still feel the need to aspire to unrealistic notions of beauty."

Read more of this article here

Dyslexia: Learning Difficulties examined

Learning difficulty, although sometimes called a learning disorder or learning disability, is a classification that includes several disorders, in which a person has difficulty learning in an expected or typical manner.

Learning difficulties;

• are rarely simple, there is normally additional complexity associated with the condition,
• can be isolating and reduces confidence and self esteem,
• can make life problematic for a person to learn as quickly or, more relevantly, in the same way, as others.
• are not indicative of cognition or intelligence level, only indicative of the need for alternative ways in which to learn.
• cannot be 'fixed' or 'cured', only managed,
• make people face unique challenges that last their entire lifetime.

Interventions may be used to help the individual learn or develop strategies that will foster their future success.

The causes of learning difficulties are not always well understood and not always apparent but selectively, some are;

• Common Causes of Learning Difficulties
• How Psychotherapy Can Help with Learning Difficulties
• Learning Difficulties in the DSM

Common Causes of Learning Difficulties
Learning difficulties range from mild, through varying degrees of complexity, to severe but, given support and understanding, people with learning difficulties can and do, lead very normal lives.

Many people with learning difficulties go on to hold very intellectually demanding positions and function at a very high level in our progressive societies.

Some causes of neurological impairments include:

• Accident in baby or childhood - may be caused by malnutrition, head injury or toxic exposure

• Heredity or Genetics - Certain conditions may run in the family

• Poverty - may be a result of a lack of parental reinforcement or affordability of support from specific medical or academic sources

• Problems during pregnancy and/or birth - may result from fetal exposure to alcohol or drugs, oxygen deprivation, anomalies developed in the brain, low birth weight, injury or illness or premature or prolonged labour

One major factor for many people who face learning difficulties is that they are unable to express their feelings easily in words and their actions may have to speak for them.

Their behaviour and moods may change and their inability to express themselves may result in depression, sadness, anxiety and other mental health issues, which are generally treated separately from the underlying condition.

A more 'holistic' view is always more beneficial to the management of your health and welfare and is particularly important in managing learning difficulties.

Can Psychotherapy Help with Learning Difficulties
A diagnosis of any learning difficulty may be potentially devastating to a person and their family.

Both the person who faces learning difficulties and their family members will need to learn coping skills for the difficulty as well as emotionally.

Stress associated with learning difficulties can accumulate which may make the coping process even more difficult and the selection of coping strategies inappropriate.

Learning difficulties are most often present over an entire lifetime, so learning effective and appropriate methods of coping are essential to successful management.

Psychotherapy and the teaching of behavioural strategies or techniques, often work best for individuals who struggle with learning difficulties.

For children, play therapy may be helpful if the therapist uses it to teach interaction techniques. Children and adults may also do well in therapy and most will benefit from joining a mutual support group.

Three Messages You Should Never Give to Kids about Anxiety

Kids don’t generally develop anxiety disorders all on their own. Oh sure, genes and biology have some influence, but these factors largely just predispose kids in the direction of acquiring problems with anxiety.

The wrong messages can push both anxiously disposed kids as well as otherwise normal kids in the direction of struggling with anxiety for the rest of their lives.

If you’re a parent or someone who cares about kids, you just might want to know what type of messages instill insecurity.

Let's start by laying out three common mistakes that parents make; in other words, the kinds of messages you “don’t” want to give them:

1. Invalidating or Denying Your Children’s Feelings. If your kids seem worried, fearful, upset, or distraught, sometimes it’s tempting to tell them “there’s no reason that they should feel that way” or even that they “shouldn’t” be feeling what they are obviously feeling. Parents give these messages because they don’t want their kids to feel distress. So, they reason that their kids will understand, if their bad feelings have no real basis, they won’t feel the way they do. Big mistake. Children need to hear that it’s normal and OK to have a little fear or distress sometimes.
2. Providing Incessant Reassurance. Messages that “everything will turn out OK” sound so very much like what you should tell kids, and if you don’t say them too often, there’ll probably be no problem. However, when you frequently reassure your kids, you end up giving them the message that they need to turn to you (as an adult or parent) to help them see that things will turn out alright. They fail to learn that they can get through fear on their own. 
3. Protecting Your Kids from All Harm. No one ever wants to see a child in harm’s way. However, growing, developing and learning require kids to face challenges and even take a few small risks along the way. Parents that try to constantly clear all dangers and risks that their kids confront teach them that the world is a scary place and that they need their parents to guide them through it. That message hardly fosters the independence and maturity they’ll need as adolescents and young adults.

So what’s a parent to do instead? One of the best ways to help prevent kids from developing anxiety disorders is to model how to cope.

I recommend that parents express when they’re feeling anxious and tell their kids how they plan to cope with it. For example, you might say, “Sometimes I feel nervous when I have to climb a ladder, but I just need to take a deep breath, be careful, and do it.

If I get too nervous, I can always climb back down, but it feels good to get through difficult tasks.”

Another good strategy is for parents to praise their kids when they make efforts to do things that are a little anxiety arousing for them.

The bottom line: Gently encourage your kids to confront their fears, let them know that a little anxiety is normal, and don’t try to keep them away from all challenges and risks.

Selfish, self-centred kids? Blame their immature brains

Dr. Nikolaus Steinbeis

A new study suggests that age-associated improvements in the ability to consider the preferences of others are linked with maturation of a brain region involved in self control.

The findings, published in the March 8 issue of the journal Neuron, may help to explain why young children often struggle to control selfish impulses, even when they know better, and could impact educational strategies designed to promote successful social behaviour.

Human social interactions often involve two parties who want to maximize their own outcomes while reaching a mutually satisfactory result.

It is generally accepted that over the course of childhood behaviour shifts from a more selfish focus to an increased tendency to consider the benefits to others.

However, little is known about age-related changes in this type of "strategic social behaviour" or the underlying neuronal mechanisms.

Researchers from the Max-Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig conducted behavioural and brain-imaging studies comparing children of different ages as they engaged in two carefully constructed games called "The Dictator Game" and "The Ultimatum Game."

In the Dictator Game, children were asked to share a reward with another child who could only passively accept what was offered.

In the Ultimatum Game, the recipient had to accept the offer or neither child received a reward. Therefore, the games differed in the demand for strategic behavior for the child making the offer.

"We were interested in whether children would share more fairly if their counterparts could reject their offers, and to what extent strategic behaviour was dependent on age and brain development," explains lead study author, Dr. Nikolaus Steinbeis.

"We observed an age-related increase in strategic decision making between ages 6 to 13 years and showed that changes in bargaining behaviour were best accounted for by age-related differences in impulse-control abilities and underlying functional activity of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a late-maturing brain region linked with self control," explains Dr. Steinbeis.

The results suggest that egocentric behavior in children may not be a function of an inability to know "fair" from "unfair," but is instead due to an immature prefrontal cortex that does not support altruistic behaviour when faced with a situation that has a strong self-serving incentive.

"Our findings represent a critical advance in our understanding of the development of social behaviour with far-reaching implications for educational policy and highlight the importance of helping children act on what they already know," concludes Dr. Steinbeis. "Such interventions could set the foundation for increased altruism in the future."

Education and Dyslexia: The Unicorn School

In 2008 The Unicorn School moved to beautiful new premises in Abingdon. Over the years we have nurtured the development of hundreds of children and many keep in touch and tell us of their great achievements.

We measure our success by the children’s positive feedback and the excellent testimonials received from their parents. We have also had some excellent Ofsted and CReSteD reports; in February 2012 Ofsted stated that "The Unicorn School Provides an outstanding quality of education which fully meets its stated aim."

We believe our approach is the correct approach to bring results. Multi-sensory “hands-on” teaching, in very small classes, encourages our children to use all their senses to learn and makes learning fun along the way.

All the members of the school community – pupils, teachers, parents and governors - provide support for one another.

The family atmosphere enables the children to overcome their difficulties and explore their many talents.

They are encouraged to express themselves confidently and take an active role in decision making within the school.

Children: Positive Self Esteem

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Dyslexia: Teaching Strategies to help Children

There are numerous techniques for teaching dyslexic children. Not all dyslexic children will respond to the same techniques, so it is important to work out what will work with each particular child. Presented here are some of the techniques you could try.

Start with the Child
Dyslexic learners may often have ‘failed’ and it is very important to start by talking to and listening to your pupil. This

• Lets you get to know the pupil as a person and get to know their interests
• allows the pupil to get to know you
• builds up trust and confidence
• helps you to assess oral ability

Learners need to feel confident to ‘have a go’ and often a dyslexic’s self esteem can be low because of previous failure. When trust is established it is much easier to find out the best way to help and support.

Try to use a range of resources and approaches which will ensure success early on which will motivate the student to learn more and to be more confident in his/her ability to learn.

What material should I use?
There are numerous programmes, teaching aids, software packages etc that you can use with students. Whichever you choose, if you are positive about it then the pupil’s confidence is improved there is a far greater chance of success.

Tuition should be multi-sensory involving looking, listening, speaking, touching etc with as much variation as possible but we are all unique and it is good to observe whether the child/adult is predominantly a

VISUAL LEARNER (learns best by seeing)

AUDITORY LEARNING (learns best by listening)

KINESTHETIC LEARNER (learns by doing/feeling)

The following are just a few tips that can be useful for any type of learner. However, the more you get to know your pupil the more you will work together to find the best individual tips.

Visual Learners

• Use pictures and multi-media material
• Stick spelling words anywhere in view
• Look at pictures in a book before reading
• Play games eg ‘pairs’ to improve memory
• Draw mind maps
• Use different colour eg syllables in words
• Use good visual software programmes
• Have an uncluttered work area

Auditory Learners

• Talk about the book to be read or the information to be learned
• Make sure instructions are orally clear
• Get the student to record the information so it can be listened to again
• Use software which has good auditory input.

Kinesthetic Learners

• Trace letters in sand or in the air
• Use concrete objects which can be handled eg wooden letters, numbers etc
• Memorise facts while moving about

Tips for Numbers Work

• Talk about numbers eg TV channels, dates, house numbers
• Count eg climbing stairs, skipping, etc
• Handle real coins
• Discuss time – day/night, early/late
• Sequence days, months, birthdays
• Use board games, dominoes, dice
• Use maths words eg how many, the same
• Discuss symbols and signs
• It is very important for a dyslexic to feel confident using a calculator.

Good organisation needs to be encouraged as dyslexics often jump to the answer. They need to be taught how to set down ‘working’.

Tips for Written Work

• use lined paper
• use spell checker
• use word bank
• cloze procedure (handouts with blanks)
• use Co-writer or Texthelp (if available)
• whenever possible give praise for content

Tips for Reading

• limit reading demands
• ensure appropriate reading level/material
• paired reading
• prepare a subject word list
• if the child has Meares Irlen Syndrome use coloured overlays/glasses
• try out computer software eg wordshark
• listen to taped books

Classroom Assistants
The classroom assistant can be

• crucial in helping a pupil achieve success
• of important help to the class teacher

The classroom assistant often knows a pupil far better than most of the other staff in the school because of the close daily contact in a variety of situations. The assistant can

• break down instructions and tasks
• keep a pupil on task
• organise work materials
• read and/or scribe
• note down homework
• help with practical tasks

For a dyslexic this support is invaluable.

The classroom assistant can sometimes help the class teacher to prepare individual work material. In addition the assistant can let the class teacher know

• which tasks are causing difficulty
• where the pupil’s strengths lie
• if homework is causing excessive stress
• if there are problems relating to peers

Difficulties with processing information mean that lack of time is often a problem for a dyslexic child.

He/she will feel a failure if work is consistently left incomplete.

The individual support of a classroom assistant can allow a pupil to finish a task before moving on.

For more information visit the www.dyslexiasw.com/ website: 

Homework: The Do's and Don'ts cont'd

In September we posted a piece on helping your children with their Homework. Here is more useful information on that task.

Parenting: When does Discipline Begin?

To read more of this article click on the link to the Newsletter here

Good Parenting Builds Self Esteem

If you want to learn more about 1-2-3 Parenting Skills visit their website here

Plus we are also happy to discuss your issues. Please feel free to contact us via the blog.

A Sense of self

Self-satisfied, self-absorbed, egocentric. It is sometimes disturbing to hear these adjectives being used to describe a child with autism, as they are used in Leo Kanner's groundbreaking paper, published in 1943. Kanner surmised that because children with autism show little interest in other people, they must be overly concerned with themselves.

In fact, individuals with autism struggle with their sense of self, according to a review published in January in Neurocase.

Adults with autism are less likely to remember autobiographical details about their childhood compared with typical controls, according to a 2009 study summarised in the review.

Biologically, this could be the result of less activity in the brain's default network i.e. connections that are active when people are at rest, and believed to be involved in daydreaming and self-reflection. Individuals with autism show weaker connections between regions of the default network.

In another study, people with autism show less activity in one of these regions, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, when replying 'true' or 'false' to statements about both themselves and others. They also show fewer connections between this region and others in the default network.

By contrast, they are able to grasp the concept of their physical selves, and have no problem recognising their own faces or describing their involvement in various activities.

Still, some studies have suggested that children with autism are only able to recognise themselves in mirrors, later in their lives. To put it another way, they are older than typically developing controls before they can identify themselves in mirrors.

Studies have shown that people with autism are just as interested in objects as they are in people. These and other findings suggest that people with autism have a unique way of viewing the world and themselves, one that doesn't fit neatly into the usual labels.

As we understand more about this worldview, we hope judgments like those made by Kanner will become a rarity.

Dyslexia: Video - Maintaining Self Esteem

All credit to Teachers TV for this video

Happy children become happy adults

Being a ‘happy’ teenager is linked to increased well-being in adulthood, new research finds.

Much is known about the associations between a troubled childhood and mental health problems, but little research has examined the affect of a positive childhood. For the first time, researchers from the University of Cambridge and the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing have analysed the link between a positive adolescence and well-being in midlife.

Using information from 2776 individuals who participated in the 1946 British birth cohort study, the scientists tested associations between having a positive childhood and well-being in adulthood.

A ‘positive’ childhood was based on teacher evaluations of students’ levels of happiness, friendship and energy at the ages of 13 and 15. A student was given a positive point for each of the following four items – whether the child was ‘very popular with other children’, ‘unusually happy and contented’, ‘makes friends extremely easily’ and ‘extremely energetic, never tired’. Teachers also rated conduct problems (restlessness, daydreaming, disobedience, lying, etc) and emotional problems (anxiety, fearfulness, diffidence, avoidance of attention, etc).

The researchers then linked these ratings to the individuals’ mental health, work experience, relationships and social activities several decades later. They found that teenagers rated positively by their teachers were significantly more likely than those who received no positive ratings to have higher levels of well-being later in life, including a higher work satisfaction, more frequent contact with family and friends, and more regular engagement in social and leisure activities.

Happy children were also much less likely than others to develop mental disorders throughout their lives — 60% less likely than young teens that had no positive ratings.

The study not only failed to find a link between being a happy child and an increased likelihood of becoming married, they found that the people who had been happy children were actually more likely to get divorced. One possible factor suggested by the researchers is that happier people have higher self-esteem or self-efficacy and are therefore more willing and able to leave an unhappy marriage.

“The benefits to individuals, families and to society of good mental health, positive relationships and satisfying work are likely to be substantial,” said Professor Felicia Huppert, one of the authors of the paper and Director of the Well-being Institute at the University of Cambridge. “The findings support the view that even at this time of great financial hardship, policymakers should prioritise the well-being of our children so they have the best possible start in life.”

Building Self-esteem In Children Who Have Dyslexia

Building Self-esteem In Children Who Have Dyslexia « The Ghotit Blog

It is inevitable; a child with dyslexia will sooner than later be “tagged” in a regular school as a student with problems by both the school staff and his classmates. The school staff will tag him as “problematic”, as he will require additional assistance, access to assistive technology solutions, extra exam time etc.

His classmates will tag him as different, from the first time that he is requested to read out loud in the classroom. The child with dyslexia will most probably make such reading mistakes which will result in laughter or degrading remarks by other children. Within such an environment a dyslexic child’s self-esteem will be negatively affected.

More......

Marketing materialism to the young is linked to self esteem

Peer pressure, targeted marketing campaigns and bad parenting have all been blamed for increasing materialism in children. Until now, there has been little evidence showing when this drive for material goods emerges in kids and what really causes it.

In one of the first studies to focus on the development of materialism among children, Deborah Roedder John, a professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, reveals that a young person’s level of materialism is directly connected to their self-esteem.

In her recent paper “Growing up in a Material World: Age Differences in Materialism in Children and Adolescents,” in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, John and co-author Lan Nguyen Chaplin, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Illinois and Carlson alum, report the results of two studies conducted with children in three age groups.

In the first study, they found that materialism increases from middle childhood (8 and 9 years old) to early adolescence (12 and 13 years old) but then declines by the end of high school (16 to18 years old). This mirrors patterns in self-esteem, which instead decreases in early adolescence but increases in late adolescence.

“The level of materialism in teens is directly driven by self-esteem,” said John. “When self-esteem drops as children enter adolescence, materialism peaks. Then by late adolescence, when self-esteem rebounds, their materialism drops.”

In a second study, John and Chaplin boosted self-esteem by giving children positive information about peer acceptance. Children were given paper plates with positive descriptors about them, such as smart and fun, which were provided by their peers in a summer camp setting.

This seemingly small gesture drastically reduced the high levels of materialism found among 12 to 13 year-olds and the moderate levels of materialism found among 16 to 18 year-olds.

“Particularly relevant,” said John, “is the fact that by simply increasing self-esteem in teens, we see a decreased focus on material goods that parallels that of young children. While peers and marketing can certainly influence teens, materialism is directly connected to self-esteem.”

It is clear from this study that 'label' marketing is cynically aimed directly at the self-esteem of young children, teenagers and young adults.

For parents interested in instilling positive values in their children and teens, the message is clear: encouraging a sense of self-worth among young people can reduce the impact of cynical marketing and the emphasis on material goods.

Dyslexia: Be positive

The Bluebird of Happiness and Positivity
It is often difficult but very important that you try to stay positive about dyslexia. The more positive you are the easier it will be to address and possibly overcome, the drawbacks and difficulties that you, or your children, may be experiencing.

A positive mindset always helps when tackling any ‘difficulty’ in life. It assists in keeping things in perspective and stops a ‘challenge’ that you are trying to overcome becoming a 'problem.'

Challenges can be FUN!
Challenges are achieveable goals and can often be seen as fun to tackle. Whereas ‘problems’ are generally perceived to be enduring, stubborn and near impossible to solve.

If you consider reading ‘difficulties’ as a ‘challenge’ to overcome, you will most probably do more reading each day in an attempt to improve your reading skills. Whereas, by seeing reading ‘difficulties’ as a ‘problem,’ you will most likely reduce the amount of reading that you do or avoid reading all together.

Easy to say
It may be easier to say that, having a positive mind set towards dyslexia helps, but it is easier said than done. Some children who suffer from dyslexia go through a predictable stage of being quite negative about their condition.

This is particularly the case for many children who discover later in life that they suffer from dyslexia. They have spent a long time trying to deal with it on their own terms and have built up a number of 'unofficial' coping strategies.

Having gone through this pain, they are now trying to make sense, not only of their new found ‘problem’ but also of all the past ‘failures’ in their lives, even if they now realise that they were connected to their dyslexia.

Late arrivals
Some ‘late arrivals’ look back over there school years and feel resentment for being let down by the educational system. They feel angry that their dyslexia was not spotted and that their needs have not only, not been addressed but have also certainly not been met.

Most, will feel the anguish of having been wrongly categorised and judged ‘stupid’ by teachers, friends and family. Many people become insular and depressed, feeling that they could have made more out of their lives if they had known earlier about dyslexia.

Acceptance and the Future
In such cases, it is neither easy nor realistic to expect that children will suddenly dismiss their feelings, switch off their negativity and start thinking positively towards dyslexia, even if it is the best path to take.

There is no future in living in the past. Let it go! It is necessary that they work through their feelings and emotions, to the point where they can accept and forgive the past for what it is, and position themselves to look to the future.

They will have self-esteem issues and these can be deeply rooted. They will need strong, reliable support to help them work their way through this. They will need positive re-enforcement to ensure they emerge outwards and upwards.

Maintain a Positive Attitude
If you are going to assist and support someone who suffers from dyslexia, always create a strong feeling of security, well-being and encouragement. Focus on, and maintain a positive attitude and outlook that lead to positive activities.

Think positively of the destination and take progressive steps to get there, the path and speed of travel are yours to select. Enjoy the journey!

Building Confidence and Self Esteem in Children

Rewarding Good Behaviour
Knowing how to build self-esteem in schildren is an important skill for all parents and teachers. Bolstering self-confidence in students who have learning disabilities (LD) is even more critical.

There are a wide array of parenting, coaching strategies and behaviour management tools to build self-esteem in children. One of the most succesful is 'positive re-enforcement', rewarding good behaviour with treats or simple fun objects i.e. providing rewards for completing quality work and for making wise social choices.

Rather than providing food or other tangible rewards, you will find that social reinforcers and recognition, such as acknowledging effort. Giving a special 'Well Done!' or granting a special privilege, are far more powerful and important to the students than treats.

Try hard to catch your children in the act of being good. If you remember nothing else, remember to try to acknowledge students for good effort, academic progress, and good choices as frequently as you can.

Providing Information
For older children, ones at middle school and high school students, you can tell them a bit more about how their brain works. As kids grow, their brains develop and allow them to understand more complex instruction. This helps them succeed with learning in areas they may have struggled with at a younger age.

Take time to explain the true meaning of "learning disabilities" to prevent kids from thinking of themselves as "dumb" or "stupid." If students with LD think they are stupid, they will invariably act stupidly, because they would rather be seen as "bad" than as "dumb."

Building Skills
Many older children are bright, and have already achieved a reasonable level of education, but they may still have a difficulty with reading. Many of them rely on sight reading and have little or no phonics skills.

Some so-called experts will say that you should give up trying to teach phonics after a certain age. However, phonics is such a useful tool to learn and one that leads to improved self-esteem, that persistance should be maintained.

In addition to teaching phonics to older students, show them how to look for what makes sense, using context and inference clues, which they might not have been able to do when they were younger. A simple, but useful, technique to show children is learning how to use the phonetic pronunciation guide in the dictionary. You will be surprised how many say "Why hasn't anyone shown me this before?"

Establishing Relationships
As you continue to develop as a parent and educator, you will come to realise the great importance of the parent-teacher-student relationship, no matter what the age of the student. When you establish a positive relationship with a child or students, they feel trust and look to you as a source of reassurance and information about themselves and the wider world.

Value Uniqueness
Motivation comes from the perception of the possibility of success. Always, or as often as is possible, let your children and students know they are special to you and that they are loved. Let them know that you recognise, appreciate and celebrate their uniqueness. Slowly but surely they will begin to believe success is possible, maybe for the first time in thier life.

Strategies to Build Self-Esteem

• Provide information about the brain and how students learn.
• Build skills - academic and social.
• Reward effort, performance, and good choices.
• Establish positive, trusting relationships with students.
• Value each student's uniqueness.

Further strategies to build self esteem and confidence in children ...........

Self Esteem and Stress Management

Individuals with learning disabilities often struggle with self esteem because of poor academic performance or difficulties with social relationships.

Most parents want to help their children develop self esteem. For the child without special needs it’s a challenge—but for the youngster with extra issues, it can seem like an overwhelming task.

There are some essential facts to keep in mind. Self esteem is not static. It can fluctuate depending on one’s state of mind and circumstances. Parents can only do so much to help their child. After a certain age, a parent’s input, while still crucial, is only part of the confidence equation.

As children age, peer input as well as their ability to accomplish become an important part of how they develop self confidence. Still, it’s our job as parents to try to bolster our kids when they feel low.

Building Self-esteem and confidence

Here are 7 easy tips that will help you build self esteem.

• Be generous with affecion; lots of hugs and kisses.
• Take plenty baby pictures. Everyone wants to see how they looked as a baby. Too often parents of children who look different avoid talking pictures of their kids as babies and as they grow.
• Don’t allow your child’s condition to define him e.g. he’s not an autistic child; he’s a child who suffers from autism.
• Be a compassionate listener and do not be judgemental. Try to understand who your child is and where they are coming from, even if you initially disagree with his or her perception of a situation.
• Use honest, open communication at all times. Kids know when you’re lying and hiding things from them.
• Don’t compare your child unfavourably with other children. Be happy with and focus on, his accomplishments.
• Become aware of your own attitudes of people’s appearances and their limitations. If need be, tone down any negative comments. Parents who make positive and negative comments about other people send the message that physical perfection is important and has a high priority.

Ultimately, it’s important to parents to understand their own feelings about appearance, disability and imperfection, so they can fully accept their child for the wonderful gift he really is.

Click the link below for more articles that provide tips for parents for developing healthy self esteem in their children, as well as resources for ways to talk with kids about learning disabilities.

Full article and additional information here..........