No two parents disagree on the difficulty of dealing with a sensitive child, not to mention that hypersensitivity affects the child himself negatively and makes him more vulnerable to stress, anxiety, irritability, and nervousness.
To avoid any negative educational consequences, experts advise parents to recognize the characteristics of sensitive children and understand their way of thinking, to facilitate the process of communicating with them.
Tips for dealing with a sensitive child
The specialist in psychological and behavioral therapy and analysis for children and adolescents, Lamia Jaber, during her interview with Al Jazeera Net, provides some advice to parents on how to deal with a sensitive child intelligently, noting the necessity of teaching the child how to overcome these disorders on his own:
- Giving the child a private space: It is necessary to give him a private space so that he can arrange his affairs as he likes. You can also designate a place that makes him feel comfortable and can go to when he is angry or tired.
- Child comprehension: It is necessary to understand, contain and show compassion for this child, in order to remove the charged atmosphere from the home.
- Fixed routine: A sensitive child often feels secure and stable when he or she has a predictable and consistent schedule. Therefore, parents must determine Fixed daily schedules For meals, playtime, and bedtime, this routine can contribute to reducing anxiety and providing a sense of stability for a sensitive child.
- Raising a pet: Having a pet at home gives the child a sense of comfort and security.
- Type of punishment: Trying to discipline the child in a way that avoids cruelty, violence, hitting, and screaming, because their results are dire and make things worse. A sensitive child needs affection and more attention. He may be intelligent and intelligent and lacks nothing but control over his feelings. Parents must work as a team to create the appropriate atmosphere for the child, as he needs affection and encouragement to take initiative.
- Quiet assertiveness: The sensitive child needs discipline and firmness, by dealing with him with a kind of serious discipline, because he sometimes feels that he is not in control of his feelings, so he needs to awaken his feelings in order to control himself, and it is important that this firmness be calm, without emotion or screaming, so as not to make the matter worse.
- Stay in touch with the child: When you see your child crying, ask him why by asking questions that help him answer. For example, after he tells you why he is crying, you can ask him what you can do to make him feel comfortable, by offering him solutions, bearing in mind that sometimes it may take a long time before your child tells you why he is upset.
- Avoid trying to change it: Parents should accept their child as he is, and not repeat phrases such as don’t cry again, and you are too sensitive.
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Praise the child: A sensitive child has many good qualities, so you must praise him constantly, and build a positive relationship with your son. Sit with your child daily, talk to him, play with him, and give him your full attention when you are with him. If you play with him, make him take the lead. Always thank him and praise him, and make praise ten times greater than criticism and blame. Notice his good deeds more than his wrong deeds.
Dealing with a highly sensitive child poses a kind of challenge for parents, but it increases their bond with their children (Shutterstock)
The sensitive child’s “challenge” to parents
For her part, Dr. Gadzia Gagilovic told the Burnets website that 20% of children are born with a highly conscious nervous system, quick to respond, and capable of responding to every change around them, and this is what makes them quick to understand and perceive any minor change taking place in their surrounding environment.
She continued, “This type of child poses a challenge to parents, but it actually helps them understand how they relate to each other.”
Gagilovic stressed that a sensitive child has a higher ability to concentrate and listen, has a strong and active memory, enjoys peace, and does not like problems.
Features of a sensitive child
As for Canadian psychiatrist Laura Gerenberg, she enumerates a number of positives for a child being sensitive, as it is a combination of several qualities, including empathy, creativity, and awareness.
According to the doctor, the sensitive child prefers individual work, “That is why you often see him leaning towards all kinds of art. Sometimes we may see him drawing a picture in nature, and he enjoys that work to the fullest extent, and at other times we find him playing a musical instrument and taking his vast imagination into his world. He composes his own words.”
He also loves any type of art that shows his tenderness and sensitivity. He draws nature, flowers, and water because they are nature that does not change. He may play an old, fixed piece in which nothing has changed, and here he finds the stability of his personality in those aspects.
Gerenberg stresses the need to encourage the sensitive child to learn new skills, “but gradually and very gently. From learning to ride a bike to swimming or various sports, he will accept the matter if it is done gradually, and this will reduce his nervousness and overflowing feelings that are excess energy that wants to get out.” Therefore, various skills and sports are necessary, but the desire to practice them must come from within him and not by forcing him to learn them.”
Is a sensitive child creative?
Dealing with a sensitive child requires a lot of patience and understanding, and providing a safe environment. Teaching emotional intelligence skills to a sensitive child is an essential step to encourage him to express himself with his emotions in a healthy way.
Creative development specialist Maureen Healy says that parents often feel frustrated when dealing with their sensitive children or feel shy in social situations, “but you have to look at the essence of the matter and be happy to see your child has a distinctive personality.”
Sensitivity is considered a common factor among many creative and innovative people and gifted children in various things. The greatest thinkers, such as Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Abraham Lincoln, suffered from hypersensitivity in their childhood.
According to Healy, accepting and embracing your sensitive child is very important. “Many parents want to take their children to doctors to treat them, because they are unable to accept the matter and cope with it, but parents must accept the matter as an advantage for the child, and as part of a life experience for the parents and the child that must Go through it.”
