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:

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: