DEEP DIVE: Highly Sensitive (and Under-Sensitive) Kids

We’re doing a Deep Dive into our best episodes around a single topic. Find the Spotify playlist for this “Deep Dive” here.

This group of episodes is about parenting kids who don’t fit the mold. This week, we’re revisiting this episode from 2021.

When a parent first hears about highly sensitive kids– or their opposite, sensory seekers– it can provide a profound moment of recognition, of connecting the dots for things about our kids that up until now have baffled us.

We think understanding these sensory tendencies can help us parent our kids more effectively and compassionately. Not every kid who shows hyper- or hypo-sensitivity will go on to require occupational therapy, struggle in school, or anything else. But as childmind.org explains, ""These problems can be tough on kids, and get in the way of them functioning effectively, learning, and making friends."

Every kid who displays these behaviors and preferences can benefit from a parent who understands and can therefore effectively support and address for the otherwise confusing behaviors that might ensue. We don't have to accommodate every dictate of an extremely picky eater, or messy playroom caused by a sensory seeker– but it's worth exploring, because it can really help us as parents to understand where these things might be coming from.

Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

• This image from Miracle Maker Mom
• Michael Rosenthal, PhD for the Child Mind Institute: Sensory Processing FAQ
• Amanda Morin for understood.org: Sensory seeking and sensory avoiding: What you need to know

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