When my daughter was a baby she was what they call a typical “high needs baby”. She had a very light sleeping pattern, she still has now at two and a half years old. She was extremely clingy and colicky and seemed to react very strongly to basically the whole world. This doesn’t mean that she would always be moody and cranky this also means the exact opposite. When she was in a great mood everyone around her was in a great mood and she was the center of attention and incredibly charming and funny, even as a baby! And everyone kept telling us that she would calm down a little bit as she got older. We are now two-and-a-half years further and she is still extremely intense. Add to that that she seems very sound sensitive to the point of being startled and frightened by loud truck noises, dogs barking, airplanes and loud sirens which is typical for HSP children. This does not mean that she is scared of all things adventurous. As long as she is prepared she likes it! She likes being in the “hiking backpack” on dad’s back to explore. We own a side-by-side UTV which we take out into the desert to ride around. And she loves being a passenger and exploring nature with us. And she has flown a handful of times from the US to Europe and back and all in all she was very well-behaved on her flights. Preparation is key! She has always seemed very empathic towards other children and adults, and animals especially! To the point where I was wondering if all the stuff she was thinking and saying was normal for her age. She seems to absorb things very quickly. At age two and a half she is singing the entire alphabet and counting to 12. And can immediately tell anyone’s emotions in the room. But she gets easily overwhelmed when a lot of stuff is going on at the same time whether it be at home or out of the house. So we installed a calming corner in her bedroom and the amount of tantrums have diminished a lot. She will now request to go to her room and sit in the dark when she feels overstimulated. I think this is something we had to teach her, that it was okay for her to be overwhelmed, that it is not something to be punished for. And that it is not something unusual or unwanted. It is just how her brain works and how she is. When things get to be a little too much for her she will go to her room to be in the dark. Before, she would stay in the living room and just get more and more over-stimulated and overwhelmed by all the impulses she was receiving and it would just build up like an explosion waiting to happen. It still happens sometimes but often we can intercept before it really explodes and we can guide her to her room where she can calm down with her stuffed animals and books. And often her upsetting feelings or impending tantrum melts away like snow under the sun.
Ever since she was very young she naturally gravitated more towards artistic activities such as music and dance and drawing and painting, and gardening and anything to do with animals and bugs. This is a common thing for HSCs. I was the same way growing up. My disadvantage was that I was being brought up in a city and luckily my daughter has the advantage of having a garden of her own with vegetables and herbs and a little insect ecosystem. Multiple reptiles in the house and a dog. The trait of sensory processing sensitivity definitely comes with a lot of challenges for both the parent and the child. But it also has so many advantages. One of the reasons why I am writing about this is to create more awareness. There is a lot of confusion that exists about this trait. People confuse it for a condition or a syndrome or a disorder, which it is not. It is an innate trait found in a lot of higher evolved animal species. It is recognized by most therapists now and dr. Elaine Aron continues to create awareness by creating seminars and speaking at conferences about this trait. There are a lot of other parents out there speaking out and creating blogs about high-sensitivity. And I think it is definitely necessary. As a former teacher myself, holding a degree in early childhood development I would like nothing more than to see schools inform themselves about HSP and make drastic changes in the classroom setting and in the Bachelor and Masters education that is being offered at colleges worldwide for teachers. I know that many other parents out there are wondering “what is wrong with my child” and would benefit from more information. And there are parents who benefit from a support network of other parents who go through similar experiences raising their HSC. It is for these people and for myself that I decided to start this blog.
HSPassenger 