How do we encourage and support our youth through challenges and risks? with Sara Westbrook
“Whatever challenge you may face, remember it is a chapter of your life, not your whole story”
-Sara Westbrook-
Do you ever hear these messages from your kids or students?
“I can’t do it”
“I am not good enough”
“People will laugh at me if I mess up”
“I don’t like being different”
“I am too scared to try it”
“What if I fail, I will be so embarrassed”
Youth with learning differences often face many challenges that impact their emotional and mental health. Feeling like a failure, believing you are not good enough, and not trusting in your own uniqueness are common struggles amongst youth with differences such as ADHD, dyslexia and other learning (dis)abilities.
As adults, I am sure that we can all think back to times in our lives when we were scared to try new things, we were worried about embarrassing ourselves, or we were too afraid to try something new. It can feel all-encompassing.
Now imagine if you were a kid who learns differently, and feels the fear of shame, stigma, failure, mistakes, and constant correction from others...on a regular basis. The weight of that negativity and worry would be so heavy.
So how do we help our kids to embrace their struggles and challenges, and to help them to own who they are? How do we encourage them to take risks and go after what they want in life?
In a session that is meant to engage both youth and adults, Sara Westbrook, a professional speaker, singer, author, and Emotional Resilience Strategist, will be speaking at our 7th Annual Summit and will be sharing incredible personal stories of ways that she has learned to embrace failures and emotional ups and downs.
Sara provides interactive, fun, and engaging presentations that will help the participants understand how their emotions influence and directly impact how they feel about themselves. She leaves her audience feeling empowered, and with the message that being able to rebound from challenging circumstances and the emotions they trigger, is pivotal to believing you are enough just the way you are.
Sara’s session is our first Summit-based keynote where we are inviting (and encouraging!) youth ages 14+ to join the live call. The call takes place right after school at 4pm, and will be an inspiring and uplifting talk to help our kids to feel more confident, more comfortable within themselves, and with a willingness to embrace their uniqueness. Adults are welcome to join in on this call as well - it will be a great session for everyone.