I now have a 12 year old daughter, well she will soon be 13 as she is quick to remind me. She is an awesome talented smart quirky kid as are most kids with Aspergers Syndrome. They are smart, creative, funny and quirky. They are often very bullied as well. That is the fact.
When we lived in Nova Scotia, for the 2 school years we were there: Rachel was badly bullied and friendless. She felt alone, defeated as no one was listening to her needs, wants, desires. I did my best as her mother to encourage her but she did have a very rough time. I had a rough time too watching her go through this. When she came home one day and said” Mom, I would rather be dead then go to school” I started to worry for her life. I watched her go into this shell.
I watched her realize how mean kids can be. I watched her realize how unique she is. I knew I had to act.
Hence the move out of Nova Scotia ( the local board did nothing when Rachel was bullied, even after she landed in the emergency room 3 times in one school year). Hence coming back to Toronto.
Now we are here and slowly Rachel is coming out of her shell. Slowly she is trying to make friends. She takes these steps with some fear. I sense that. We have had many talks about how kids behave, how they can tease and joke, how they can be mean, but sometimes you find that kid that is genuinely nice to all, that is the kind you want to have as a friend. We have talked about how to build a friendship, what a real friend looks like. You see social skills with Asperger kids needs to be coached and it could use a room full of mentors alongside parents working together to help build self esteem.
Two years ago I started using the Dove Self Esteem liteature with Rachel. Tonight, Rachel and I watched a great video. It is the first in a series on 5 videos that will be on the Yummy Mummy Club tv channel. If you have a tween or teen daughter may you watch it together and may it be a catalyst for the kind of conversation that I just had with my daughter. I want to thank Erica and the team of mothers who stepped up to be mentors and for the teens in the video can I say Thank You too. If you have a tween or teen watch this and enjoy the conversation that comes.
How do you instill self esteem in your daughter?
