Confidence and self-esteem
Find out how to build confidence and self-esteem for people with ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities. Help kids identify their strengths and develop a growth mindset.
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Tips and strategies
- Quick tipTalk openly about challenges.
When someone is struggling with self-esteem, talk about things you find challenging and work to overcome. Acknowledging your own challenges helps others open up about theirs.
- Quick tipGive praise that’s honest and specific.
Acknowledge kids’ effort. Praise them for completing different parts of a project and ask what they might try next time to help meet their goal. That’s the kind of praise that builds self-esteem.
Podcast
Growth mindset and the power of “yet”
Learn about the intersection of growth mindset, learning differences, and kids of color. See how young adult Savannah Treviño-Casias finds power in “yet.”
Downloads
Download: Lunchbox notes to help your child build confidencePDF
Self-awareness worksheet for kidsPDF
15 growth mindset questions to askPDF
Growth mindset action planPDF
More resources
All articles
- The power of effective praise: A guide for teachers
- Should I encourage my child to go to IEP meetings?
- How my IEP transition plan helped me start college with confidence
- Written expression disorder in grade school: 5 self-advocacy scripts
- Written expression disorder in middle school: 4 self-advocacy scripts
- Strengths chain: Hands-on activity to help kids identify their strengths
- Imposter syndrome at work: How I stopped feeling like a fake
- Download: Your child’s accomplishment box starter kit
- School burnout in kids who learn and think differently
- 5 self-advocacy sentence starters for middle-schoolers with dyscalculia
- 5 self-advocacy sentence starters for grade-schoolers with dyscalculia
- The importance of positive self-esteem for kids
- What is neurodiversity?
- How I taught my students to give praise and other feedback
- The power of motivation for kids who learn and think differently
- Video: A young woman opens up about growing up with NVLD
- Video: Teen with dyscalculia shares why she tells friends about her learning issues
- Why “Goldilocks” parenting helps build executive function skills
- How my son’s sensory processing challenges helped me understand myself
- 6 common myths about nonverbal learning disabilities
- 6 surprising ways nonverbal learning disability affects me as a young adult
- 4 tips for helping middle-schoolers learn to speak up for themselves
- Should kids talk about their learning and thinking differences at summer camp?
- Learning disabilities by the numbers
- My middle-schooler doesn’t want to talk about dyslexia with teachers. What can I do?
- How kids can succeed even when they fail
- What is test anxiety?
- Building resilience: 8 books to help kids face challenges
- 9 books that explore and embrace difference
- What to say when kids fail a test
- How to build the foundation for self-advocacy in young children
- Video: How the gift of dance transformed a 12-year-old boy with ADHD
- Video: College students on how they found their confidence
- “Am I cheating?” Why I felt ashamed to use dyslexia accommodations
- How I cope with imposter syndrome while having learning disabilities
- Why my son kept his ADHD medication a secret in college
- 5 steps for recognizing strengths in kids
- Unrealistic thinking in kids with ADHD
- 8 activities to help your child explore strengths and passions
- 5 self-advocacy sentence starters for middle-schoolers with dyslexia
- When the IEP team focused on my strengths, it made all the difference
- Why I’m open about my daughter’s dyslexia
- 10 modern classic books for kids in preschool–grade 2
- 8 teen and tween books with characters who learn and think differently
- 11 books to help kids build a growth mindset
- 5 questions with Professor Manju Banerjee on learning and thinking differences in the Asian American community
- Summer camp was an “oasis” from my troubles at school
- 7 surprising ways to boost your child’s confidence before a test
- Perspectives: Is it OK to let kids fail?
- The question my parents asked that helped me become a self-advocate
- 6 self-advocacy sentence starters for grade-schoolers with DCD
- 5 self-advocacy sentence starters for middle-schoolers with ADHD
- Teacher to teacher: How I use dyslexia as my teaching superpower
- Why some kids overreact to criticism
- 6 signs your child is resilient
- What my child has taught me about resilience
- 5 drawings of my dyslexic superpowers
- To be Black in America with a learning disability
- Building strengths: Pick one skill for your child to work on at home
- ADHD and self-esteem: What to say to your child
- 5 reasons why kids with ADHD get bullied
- 3 tips for talking to kids with ADHD who are discovering their queer identity
- Pros and cons of disclosing a disability to employers
- 6 tips to help middle-schoolers stick with tasks and activities
- Signs of bullying in kids with learning differences and ADHD
- Embracing my dyscalculia made me a better student
- A message to my 17-year-old self about having nonverbal learning disabilities
- How I got over my fear of AP statistics (and passed!)
- How self-advocacy helped me fight for my rights in college
- “I feel so ADD”: When casual language means more than we think
- How my son with dyslexia became an early self-advocate
- 6 common myths about learning and thinking differences
- Job interview questions to practice with your teen
- How to give praise that builds kids’ self-esteem
- What is self-advocacy?
- 5 self-advocacy sentence starters for grade-schoolers with dyslexia
- The holiday habit I’d like to break: Comparing my son with nonverbal learning disability to his cousins
- “Dear teacher, I have dyslexia,” explains fifth grader in self-advocacy video
- Nonverbal learning disabilities and sports: How I debunked the myth
- 5 self-advocacy sentence starters for middle-schoolers with DCD
- 5 ways to help tweens and teens be independent learners
- Make dyslexia about strengths, not shame
- 6 tips for helping your grade-schooler learn to self-advocate
- 10 ways to help shy kids speak up for what they need
- How to help your child build strengths from challenges
- What should I do when my child says “I’m stupid”?
- The difference between teasing and bullying
- Why kids who learn and think differently might feel lonely
- Types of strengths in kids
- Why fourth grade can be hard for kids
- The importance of showing empathy to kids who learn and think differently
- The fourth “E” is empower
- How competence anchors can help kids overcome fear of failure in school
- 5 lessons about failure from my life with learning disabilities
- 6 common fears for kids who learn and think differently
- How can I praise one child without making the other feel bad?
- ADHD and rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD)
- How to help tweens and teens talk with friends about challenges
- Dav Pilkey sees ADHD and dyslexia as his superpowers
- Taking action during Learning Disabilities Awareness Month
- One more reason for Asian Americans to drop the “model minority” myth: Learning and thinking differences
- Video: The journey from a child with dyslexia to an award-winning researcher
- 14 musicians who learn and think differently
- 9 benefits of martial arts for kids who learn and think differently
- How to help build self-esteem during challenging times
- Back-to-school worksheet to start the year strong
- 6 tips for helping your high-schooler learn to self-advocate
- Download: Self-awareness worksheets for kids
- Download: 3×3 card to help teachers get to know your child
- How I adapted to big lecture classes in college
- Pros and cons of disclosing learning and thinking differences in college
- Download: Lunchbox notes to help your child build confidence
- Simone Biles says ADHD is “nothing to be ashamed of”
- Why some kids clown around in class
- What is self-awareness?
- Video: Michelle Carter wins Olympic gold with dyslexia and ADHD
- Video: Meet child entrepreneur Max Ash (and Mom)
- Video: The journey from a kid with writing issues to a professional writer and speaker
- Video: How art helped a struggling student better understand himself
- Video: Journalist Byron Pitts on faith, family, and overcoming reading challenges
- Video: The journey from a boy with imposter syndrome and LD-NOS to scientist
- Self-advocacy sentence starters for kids who learn and think differently
- How my students’ strengths have shined
- 6 ways to improve your child’s self-esteem with extracurricular activities
- Download: Growth mindset activities for kids
- Video: Scott Barry Kaufman on embracing learning and thinking differences
- Video: The challenges of being an African American who learns and thinks differently
- Life in limbo
- STEM stars who learn and think differently
- How to rebuild self-esteem in the new school year
- What is growth mindset?
- Video: New England Patriot Lawrence Guy on overcoming stigma and being your best
- Video: How to know if your child is oversharing on social media
- Why kids say negative things about themselves
- How to respond when kids say “I can’t do it”
- Video: The value of mentorship for kids who learn and think differently