We all know that anxiety is an ever-present symptom in children with learning difficulties, disabilities or differences.

Children who are struggling to learn at school are often overwhelmed and paralyzed by anxiety, so how can we explain to our children what anxiety is?

The topic is complicated, but you can use this simple explanation to make it easy.

The first thing we can explain to our children is that…

The second thing is that…

So here is the third point we need to discuss with our children. Since anxiety is a normal human emotion, why is it that some people, appear to feel more anxious than others? The answer is simply that some people are better at hiding it than others.

Of course, what causes anxiety in people differs from person to person. A child who is struggling at school and finds it difficult to complete their schoolwork may feel anxious about this, but this same child may not feel anxious when they are playing sport, performing on stage or playing with a dog.

Another child who excels academically at school may feel incompetent when playing sport, struggles to make friends or might be petrified of dogs, causing them high levels of anxiety.

So why do we as humans experience anxiety as a form of fear?

We are animals and to ensure the survival of the human race we need to experience fear. It is inbuilt and necessary for our survival. It keeps us safe, aware and alive and ensures the survival of the human race.

The problem arises for us when the level of anxiety is too high or goes on for too long, and this results in preventing us from functioning effectively.

There are many triggers for anxiety in our children, but we need to let them know they are not alone and that they are normal. What we also need to do, however, is to support them and help them to find ways to control and reduce their school anxiety.

If you would like to watch a video of me talking about this topic in more detail you can go here to watch it on Facebook or here to watch it on YouTube.