Back to school tips esp for ADHD w hypersensitivity?

[hope111]

Interested to learn of any back to school tips to help with the transition. My elementary schooler has undiagnosed ADHD and hypersensitivity, we are scheduled for Sept testing. Not sure if others here have hypersensitivity but that’s the biggest struggle at school, constantly feeling a ‘victim’ and feeling other kids are mean or unkind can be debilitating. So tips there especially appreciated.

[Pennywink]

My son will totally only remember a 5 sec minor spat during a day, even if the remaining 23:59:55 hrs were positive. Even if the spat was resolved in his favor.

Not sure if this will be a huge help, but I send my 6 year old to school / other places with a “mission” - usually to either find a kind act he witnesses or does, or something funny (but not mean spirited), and to tell me about it that night. Mostly he forgets, but sometimes he remembers and at least it helps increase awareness that the whole day was actually not as horrible as he reports.

[fraziercc]

Find ways to build her confidence in school and out of school. I started with out of school confidence building activities, such as joining Girl Scouts, and then gradually moved to in-school confidence building activities, such as joining a Destination Imagination team, by 5th grade. Both activities she did not want to do but our goal (family and teacher) was to build confidence. We also read books about being a strong women and recognizing our strengths and challenges. Overall, I chose to focus forward rather than tackle the negativity (victim). Children may over focus on their feelings of victimization and seek out (even unconsciously) attention for the behavior or reaction.

[WendyKirkpatrick in reply to fraziercc]

I have a son going on 31 with ADHD. Because of years of memories and not having had a site like this to communicate with other parents, I found I could not find any reading material that presented the condition from the child's point of view. I wrote and illustrated a self-published book called "I have ADD and I'm Proud to Be Me.' Its on Amazon.com and Createspace.com. I have a B.A. in Psychology but wrote the book from the heart and my perceptions of what our son was going through, from his perspective (semi-biographical). All of the advice you can give parents is of tremendous value. I always valued the parents' advice over the professionals at times, who were more interested in medication that services and activities, diet and exercise, along with behavior modification. I wish all of you the best of luck with your children. Wendy Kirkpatrick

[Pennywink in reply to fraziercc]

Good point!

Yes, lately I've been striving to give less attention to the negative talk, and more attention / praise to the positive talk. It's a tricky balance, as I never want him in a position where I'm missing something serious or he feels I don't listen at all. But attention does equal repetition. So I just listen & keep calm. If it seems like it could be important, I delve further. But I've started to notice a pattern of what is & isn't worth deeper conversation. If it seems like his normal negative musings, after he tells me, I nod & say "Sorry to hear that", then move the conversation to something positive.