Supporting Emotionally Intense Children


PARENTING & TEACHING TIPS - EMOTIONALLY INTENSE CHILDREN


ACKNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTAND:

  • Acknowledge your child’s feelings and emotional responses
    - Understand that they are REAL for them
  • Celebrate the positive aspects of emotional intensity
    - Caring, loyal, passionate etc.
  • Help them to understand that their feelings and reactions are sometimes more intense than those of other people
    - Strong sense of justice / right and wrong
  • Encourage them to stand by what they believe


OFFER SUPPORT & STRATEGIES:

  • Pre-empt (and prepare for) or avoid difficult situations
    - Move away from intense noise or light
    - Discuss possible situations and prepare a response before hand
  • Offer support, TLC & strategies when child is distressed
  • Orchestrate an outlet for intense reactions / overexcitabilities in an appropriate way, at appropriate times
  • Give permission to be emotional – join with them / celebrate their strong feelings
  • Feed their intellectual curiosity and model self-directed learning
  • Help them understand how their intense reactions may adversely affect others
  • Help them to learn when they can and can’t question authority
  • Help them learn and practise respectful ways of “helping” others


RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES:

  • Help them put their emotional responses in perspective
  • Model rational thinking
  • Consider the “worst case scenario” and how to cope with that
  • Create an emotional response scale / levels of concern
  • e.g. Consider how sick or badly injured a person may be:
    - It will hurt for a few minutes
    - He may be sick for a few days
    - He may have to go to hospital
  • Develop a “feelings” vocabulary – a range of emotional words
    - e.g. frustrated / embarrassed / worried / jealous etc.
  • Encourage journal writing or drawing to help express intense feelings and concerns

ENCOURAGE PROACTIVE RESPONSES:

  • Do something to help or change the situation
  • Make an action plan for similar or future situations
  • Express their concerns in writing / letters
  • Make plans to meet with others to discuss the issues


RETURN TO:  Gifted Children - Information page

MOTIVATIONAL POSTERS - Heightened Intensities