The reasons for this damaged self-image are important in understanding how we can help children with these problems and change the way they view themselves and interact with the world around them. In children and adults with attentional disorders or other learning disabilities, scientific research has been able to identify neurological correlates to the problems that they exhibit. Secondly, children who experience constant frustration and lack of success in their school experience will naturally begin to question themselves and their abilities. Furthermore, if the focus tends to be on a child's problems and not his positive qualities, if we emphasize what a child cannot accomplish and not what he can, the child tends to see himself in purely negative terms, as he is being described. Friends can also play an important role in a child's self-esteem.
Social acceptance becomes increasingly important as children grow up.
When the child is ostracized, or feels left out of the group, he will tend to blame himself for his predicament. Children who are a little different, who don't quite fit in, will therefore develop a very negative view of themselves, reflecting what they believe to be the view of their peers. First of all, treating an underlying attentional problem or learning disability in the child, often tends to gradually improve his self-esteem. Often, simply explaining to a child what his problem is, and how it has hindered him, and letting him know that this does not mean that he is stupid or in-capable or bad, but simply has a problem that needs special help, which he will receive, will relieve much of the anxiety involved in the problem. If a child has significant problems in peer groups, then encouraging appropriate peer relations in a group setting, which is well supervised, which may emphasize an area that the child can succeed and excel in, is often a positive influence as well.