Please could you share your experiences of girls diagnosed with ADHD. I suspect that my dd6 may have some form of this and I am looking for advice on how to manage her behaviour. Sorry this might be long:
My youngest DD is 6. She is an absolute whirlwind and always has been. This summer holidays I have found her very hard to manage. She seems to be much better with the structure of school and the physicality of all the after school clubs she does.
She never stops moving. She can't walk anywhere - has to run, jump, cartwheel - to the point where I don't feel she is safe as she seems spatially unaware of dangers. It is also highly inappropriate in many circumstances such as busy public places. She constantly fidgets, even when watching TV.
She has poor impulse control, does things without thinking and doesn't know when to stop. She has no appetite control although her levels of activity prevent her from being overweight. She has some social issues as she doesn't seem to get normal behavioural cues and can come across as too boisterous.
I am sad as I feel I am constantly telling her to "calm down" or that her behaviour is inappropriate. She has also been labelled a handful by my family which make them treat her differently to her siblings and my dn who is the same age (they have a lot more tolerance for DN).
She is also very bright, loving and very determined. She doesn't struggle with concentration with things that she wants to do, for instance, she was determined to learn to tie laces aged 4 so she practiced for hours until she could do it.
I think that I had/have ADHD but have learnt in recent years to understand my behaviours. When I Googled ADHD in girls it was very familiar - underachiever despite being clever enough, self-esteem issues including a long period as a bulimic, poor impulse control etc. I remember physically feeling like I was going to burst with pent up energy when I was a kid.
I see so much of myself in my daughter. I want to be able to help her manage her behaviour in a positive way without having to go through the journey of self-loathing that I did. I can really see how being constantly told your behaviour is wrong can damage self-esteem but she also needs to learn what is acceptable and that how she behaves impacts on how others act towards her. I might be barking up the wrong tree but even so any behavioural strategies might help.
Please can you share with me any similar stories and things you have done to help your dc.
Thanks