There a couple of things I can think of that you can do to help your daughter feel good about herself.

You can think about the symptoms she has and try to rename them in your mind so that they are more positive. So you can talk to her about her CREATIVE thinking, how she finds connections between ideas that most people don't see. She has such ENERGY that she can do anything she wants. Of course kids can tell if you're praising things that aren't true, so put some thought into it.

You also should let her "follow her bliss", that is get involved in activities where she can shine. Let her chalk up some real achievements in sports or arts or scouting or all those things.

This is one of those things that drive me crazy with having ADHD kids. They (you) need to do so much. There are all the regular things, like school & play-dates, then there might be tutoring and therapist appointments. Then you need to find something else that the child is good at like swim team or music lessons. So when is there any down time? It can be exhausting - for us. ;)

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I read your post and i saw you said your DD was not on ADHD meds. I am not sure if you stated she is ADHD or just low self esteem. I have a DD with ADHD, she is older that your DD but I went through the self esteem issue. First at 7 i would envolve her in things, I go my DD involved in trying a sport or dance or something that helped with meeting new friends that weren't necessarily in her school and trying to help wear her out. I also tried to make sure she did play dates or sleepovers. And I worked with her closely on her schoolwork afterschool and studying giving alot of praise, setting goals with things she could work toward ie next math quiz you get a B we will go to a movie, etc. Unfortunately I was like you I did not have my DD on meds and the self esteem thing got really bad because of school, she would work so hard, study, etc and then get a C on a test. I finally put her on meds and it was like a 1000% turn around! Its tough with girls because even though we as a family praise them and help them and tell them they are great its really hard when they are at school or something else and struggling.

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