Strategies for Building Confidence

Some children that experience learning difficulties or are diagnosed with neurodevelopment disorders, such as ADHD, may need support in building their confidence.

It will be important to make an effort to increase your client’s confidence. This will help them recognize their strengths and accomplishments. Examples of ways to build confidence include providing them with positive feedback, building in success opportunities, and asking them to identify what went well for them.

Some other examples can include:

  • Give your client lots of encouragement and positive praise in the classroom.
    • Provide your client with immediate feedback for desired behaviour (e.g., persisting on difficult/less preferred tasks; having a good attitude) so that she/he continues to have positive learning experiences.
      • For example, I like how you are looking at me when I’m speaking, it lets me know you are listening.
      •  Frequent positive reinforcement will help boost your client’s confidence and will encourage her/him to develop persistent problem-solving strategies. 
  • Discuss with your client their areas of strength and need as a learner and the fact that we all have strengths and limitations in learning. 
    • Remind them of their personal strengths and that they can use their strengths to support other areas.
  • Be aware of your client’s discomfort with their weak subjects in order to be able to support him/her in this subject/these areas without overwhelming him/her.
  • Provide encouragement for independence and taking on new challenges. Always look for parts of tasks that the client can start to take on by themselves with the goal of continually increasing independence.
  • Positive self-talk is another strategy that may be helpful in building confidence.
    • Positive self-talk (i.e., constructive messages) can help students feel more confident about their abilities and change their perspectives.
    • Teach your client to use positive self-talk when confronted with frustrations (e.g. “This might be hard, but I can do it!”).
    • Model positive self-talk and encourage the use of self-talk to promote a positive emotional response and increase their confidence in approaching challenging academic tasks. 
  • If your client engages in negative self-talk, assist them in re-framing these statements to more positive statements.
    • For example, if your client says “I can’t do it” focus on what they have been able to do and help them identify what they need to do to complete the task. 
  • Encourage your client to talk with their parents or teachers about frustrations instead of getting down on themselves.
  • Provide your client with reassurance when they express they can’t do something or is becoming visibly frustrated by a task.
    • This involves validating what they are experiencing, normalizing their feelings, identifying a time when they were able to do something similar and instilling confidence in them,
  • Ensure your client takes part in activities in which he finds more easy success.
    • For example, an extra-curricular activity or club of interest can help to reinforce his strengths.
  • Through explicit strategy instruction, help your client develop and use self-monitoring strategies:

self-monitoring strategies:

■ Do I understand the instructions of the assignment?

■ Can I repeat the instructions back?

■ What do I need to do to complete this work?  (It may be necessary to provide specific expectations in writing.).

■ If I get stuck, what do I do?  (Provide a list of “first I should try…., then I should try…., and if that doesn’t work, then try….).