4 Ways to Support Your Child’s Mental Health Now

If your child struggles with reading, writing, math, focus, or organization, and doubts their abilities, they need support that nurtures their confidence and mental wellness. Here are four ways you can support your child’s mental health now, with additional links and resources.  

1. Foster Open and Positive Conversations

Talk openly about learning differences and neurodivergence. Help your child understand that their brain is unique, not broken. Share stories of successful neurodivergent individuals to empower and inspire. 

Resources

• Neurodiversity Explained for Families is a resource from Understood.org that provides articles, videos, and conversation starters tailored to families of neurodivergent kids. 
• Embrace: Journeys in Neurodiversity is an LDS podcast that offers insights from educators, experts, and parents to shatter stigmas and highlight the power of community support in building confidence and celebrating each learner’s unique strengths.  
• Parent Tools & Resources is a resource from ExplainingBrains.com that offers practical, strengths-based tools and resources, including conversation scripts, to help understand neurodiversity and communicate diagnoses in a child-friendly way.  

Books

• All My Stripes: A Story for Children with Autism by Shaina Rudolph and Danielle Royer is great for helping younger children understand and accept themselves. 
• Different—Not Less by Temple Grandin profiles successful neurodivergent individuals to inspire confidence and hope. 
• My Brain is a Racecar by Nell Harris uses a beautifully simple and empowering metaphor to explain and affirm how neurodivergent brains work. It fosters empathy, self-awareness, and open dialogue about ADHD and Autism without relying on jargon.  

2. Focus on Strengths and Interests

Encourage activities that your child enjoys, such as building, storytelling, music, or movement. Follow their lead and support their curiosities. Celebrate small successes to build confidence, reduce anxiety, and help them feel seen for who they are. 

Resources

• Character Lab provides actionable advice for parents, caregivers, and educators based on science.
• 5 Steps for Recognizing Strengths in Kids from Understood.org provides a walkthrough of strategies and activities to help you and your child identify their strengths and pursue their passions.  
• Child-led Play provides five easy steps to child-led play, an approach that fosters connection by following your child’s preferences and discovering what motivates and interests them.

Books

• The Magic of Yet by Angela DiTerlizzi and Lorena Alvarez Gomez is a vibrant resource for families. It helps children reframe setbacks and mistakes as essential steps to growth, encouraging perseverance, self-belief, and the understanding that learning takes time. 
• Iggy Peck, Architect or The Questioneers series by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts explores and celebrates curiosity, creativity, and big dreams through the inspiring stories of kids who turn their passions and natural talents into purpose.

3. Prioritize Emotional Regulation

Support your child in identifying and expressing their emotions through tools like feelings charts, journaling, or mindfulness. Talk about how the body feels when experiencing certain emotions and try different self-regulation strategies to find what your child prefers. Emotional regulation is not only essential for resilience and learning readiness, but also for building relationships, solving problems, and feeling safe in our own bodies. 

Resources

• Zones of Regulation is a widely used curriculum to help kids identify and manage emotions; it includes home tools and books.  
• Self-Care for Kids: 6 Ways to Self-Regulate from Understood.org is a resource with six practical tools to help your child in learning to self-regulate.
• Empowered Parenting: Social & Emotional Development is a resource from Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre. It offers families practical, culturally inclusive guidance on nurturing emotional regulation, resilience, and relationship skills through every stage of development.  
• Emotion Wheels, Body Charts, and Guides are beautifully designed, free resources that help children and adults identify, name, and reflect on their emotions through colour, body awareness, and creative expression. They are from Emotion Visuals by Abby Vanmuijen.

Books

• The Colour Monster picture book and series by Anna Llenas. This gentle narrative helps children recognize, name, and understand their emotions by linking each feeling to a colour, offering a creative, nonjudgmental way to explore emotions.  
• My Body Sends a Signal: Helping Kids Recognize Emotions and Express Feelings by Natalia Maguire and Anastasia Zababashkina. Using familiar situations, clear language, and hands-on activities, this book helps children notice the physical cues of their emotions, expand their emotional vocabulary, and express their feelings in healthy ways.  
• Wiggles, Stomps, and Squeezes Calm My Jitters Down by Lindsay Rowe Parker. Offers a playful, empathetic look into sensory experiences of neurodivergent children, helping to understand emotional regulation through the lens of movement, sensation, and self-awareness.  

4. Seek Personal Learning Support

Connect with expert educators who customize learning strategies for your child’s unique needs. Learn how LDS can help your family. Your child deserves more than a one-size-fits-all approach.  

At LDS, we tailor learning support to each student’s strengths and needs. Our experienced educators and evidence-based programs empower learners to boost confidence, improve academic skills, develop emotional resilience, and embrace what makes them unique. 

Invest in your child’s mental health, self-esteem, and lifelong success. Speak with our experienced team and discover how LDS can help your child thrive.

Resources

• Beyond Orton-Gillingham – Personalized Learning for Your Child
• Trust Your Gut: Why Early Screening and Intervention Matter
• ADHD Signs and Supports
• Supporting Your Child After a Diagnosis

Programs

• RISE One-to-One Learning Support – Individualized support with a qualified instructor to improve independence, confidence, and academic success. 
• Assessments – Get a better picture of your child’s strengths and challenges and be equipped to advocate and support their learning and growth.  

– Marlo Humiski, Senior Manager, Early Years Programs

LDS is a community of dedicated professionals who write collaboratively. We recognize the contribution of unnamed team members for their wisdom and input.