Building social confidence

[Charlie Arnold]

Does anyone else find that fructose problems have created confidence problems in socialising??? I really struggle to get Megs out socially, I know some maybe because she has spent so long feeling rough and low blood sugar but she really seems to hate going to especially parties that will involve sitting down to eat. At the moment she can have a few things at the table but when on the HFI it was really hard to get safe enough food so I always had to take her own stuff.

I have been trying to get through to her that everyone always discusses food at the table and "what have you got " is a question everyone asks as a social thing. I have even tried to make sure I take the same sort of food but just not being able to help herself has created a problem. Nowadays she throws such wobblies about going out it just makes it all so stressful.

[FMmom]

Kaelin has always had problems with socializing -- it seems to be somewhere in between extreme shyness and an anxiety disorder.

I just returned from a meeting with Kaelin's teachers and they report that she's just a different child than she was at the beginning of the year. And last year her teachers reported how many improvements she had made socially. I can't explain it, but since starting the diet, she is a social creature for the first time her young life. She's still shy, but she holds her own in small group settings. And she made a presentation to the entire class! (A year ago, merely entering the classroom provided so much anxiety that she chewed her hair and fingernails and she once completely chewed off the cuff off her shirt. Yikes!) Shyness is still a component of Kaelin's personality -- she'll never turn into the life of the party -- but wow, the transformation is amazing.

Food is still the one area where I have a lot of concerns. Kaelin must take medication every time she eats, but she won't do it in front of other kids. So she doesn't eat, then she has issues with hypoglycemia. Sigh.

She is in a "social circle" at her school (four girls and the school psychologist). Kaelin has reluctantly told them that she can't eat a lot of foods. So even though it's a safe environment, she still doesn't want to talk about her issues with food. She's mentioned little bits about not being able to eat "some foods" but she hasn't really presented any details. Personally, I would have told everyone just for the sympathy, but she is staying private about it.

Kaelin doesn't avoid people, she either eats things that she shouldn't have or she just avoids food altogether -- and that leads to a whole host of way more embarrassing problems. Gas, burping, wild behavior, loud talking... I'd find all of that a lot more humiliating! (I've offered to bring things she can safely eat, but that makes her stand out in ways she'd rather not. Which is fine, but then I always have to deal with the fallout later. Drives me insane!)