My 8 yr old has just been diagnosed with adhd. Her emotional regulation is becoming non existent, and it used to be just at home but now I’m hearing it’s at school too.
My daughter has historically been pretty good at finding friends and having several. As they get older, the groups will form, and the core friendship circles will be so important for the pre-teen and teenage years. Over this last year she has not only complained about a lot of them, but I’m hearing a lot of kids just don’t want to play with her. She has hardly been invited to any playdates all year.
I don’t know how to help her. Seems like she will get mad at one friend for doing something and everyone takes that other friend’s side. (I’m guessing my daughter is being a bit explosive or intense and I don’t even blame these kids for not wanting to be around that!) Even my daughter’s closest friend has pulled away. I’m terrified she will be all alone, that she’ll not have a great group a friends, and she’ll struggle for the next 10 years that much more. Girls need girlfriends during these years. I was diagnosed with ADHD this year at 41 yrs old and can see how my struggles growing were from that. But I was and still am not great at socializing so I don’t quite know how to help either.
Any suggestions on how to support her being calm and kind at school? How to keep her stress lower so she doesn’t explode on them? How do we foster these close friends and community for our girls? Thanks for your ideas