I have name changed for this as I’ve spoken to friends about it, as I am so at a loss here!
I have a six year old DD who is home schooled. She is in year 1 and had a really rough reception year, so we decided to take her out. She doesn’t have any formal diagnosis, but after doing a lot of online research and some quizzes, I am pretty sure she has ADHD, not ASD (she scores very low for that but very high for ADHD).
She is very impulsive, full of a lot of energy. She also gets obsessed with things, like the Nintendo switch (which belongs to her older sister). She also has quite extreme mood swings and huge tantrums.
Lately she’s been telling me that she hates herself and that bad things always happen to her. Today she said she wished she had never been born! I have NO IDEA where she gets thoughts and words like this come from.
To look at it from the outside, she has a great life. She goes to two home school groups per week (drop off groups that is -she only likes one of them though), and every other day she and I do a fun activity or try and see a friend. (Seeing a friend sometimes goes really well and is sometimes fraught and emotional.)
How can I help her? I can’t relate to her at all. I don’t have the same life outlook, I don’t have obsessions, I don’t have mood swings, and I loved school! I am much more like her sibling in personality, who is bookish and contented. DH says he was like DD as a child, but his mother shamed him for it constantly.
I am at a complete loss.
Anyone? What can I do to bolster her self esteem? Or just generally make her life better?! It’s so depressing and draining and sad.