As an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small fee from qualifying purchases via the links below. This is at no additional cost to you. The cost of reading failure is high enough!
Everyone has feelings.
Everyone has big feelings.
BIG
BIG
BIG
ones even!
When a child is struggling with a learning difference such as dyslexia, the feelings have a way of turning into the not-so-positive type. Both for the child and caregiver.
When you add ADHD to the mix (which is very often comorbid with dyslexia and can include significant emotional regulation struggles), it can be common for the negative emotion pot to overflow on the regular before you know it.
Feelings of all shapes and varieties are normal. But when the bad keeps coming and coming, for you or/or your child (or both), overall mental wellness is at stake.
The good news: once you understand, you can help support! And when emotional management becomes a family affair, everyone plays a positive role and everyone benefits.
If you are looking to increase your general understanding, here are a few books that help illustrate what I mean as far as identifying, normalizing, and working through emotions. The family that builds and navigates emotional skills together, is more likely to be healthier and happier together:
Book #1
Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: 7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous and Independent Children by Lynn Lyons, Paul Costanzo, et al.
This book allows parents to take a step back and assess what patterns they may have been unknowingly supporting in their children โ and what they can do to change things.
Underlying it all is a simple truth: โEither it comes from you or it comes from you,โ as author Lynn Lyons reiterates on her podcast as far as the nature/nurture theories of anxiety. A child is either born with underlying tendencies or they are modeled for them, or itโs a bit of both. But, at the end of the day, the source doesnโt really matter - itโs what you do about it that has a lasting effect.
Amazon puts it succinctly: โThis audiobook exposes the most common anxiety-enhancing patterns-including reassurance, accommodation, avoidance, while offering exercises and techniques to change both the children's and the parental patterns of thinking and behaving.โ
Book #2
Hey Warrior by Karen Young
Before children can master their anxiety, they have to understand how it works and learn how to identify it.
This sweetly illustrated book offers age-appropriate (kids can learn the word amygdala!) brain science, logic, and practical advice about coping.
Book #3
What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kidโs Guide to Overcoming Anxiety
Once you and your child understand more about what anxiety is and how it works, this interactive and empowering childrenโs workbook can help a child visualize their individual emotions and take steps toward building management skills.
As itโs hard for some children to put their feelings into words, this workbook offers creative ways to illustrate them, proving metaphors along the way to help explain the way anxiety can grow and more.
No book or workbook can replace advice from a clinical provider. Always seek help from a qualified medical provider if you have concerns.
Dyslexia Now What does not provide medical and clinical advice. The content here is for informational purposes only and should not replace advice given by a qualified mental health provider. Please seek medical advice from your own healthcare professional or team if you have any concerns regarding your mental health.