The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping our children thrive when the world overwhelms them

The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping our children thrive when the world overwhelms them explores High Sensitivity in children and how it can be misunderstood. The source notes that 15–20% of children are highly sensitive, yet they are often labelled shy, introverted, fussy or faddy. This practical guide is written to help parents recognise what is really happening and respond with greater confidence.

Described as a follow-up to the author’s internationally best-selling personal development guide The Highly Sensitive Person, the book offers insights intended to help families understand High Sensitivity and support a highly sensitive child in everyday life. It also addresses how to work with schools to ensure a child receives appropriate treatment, and highlights the importance of understanding these children to help them avoid patterns of shyness and withdrawal as they develop.

Key details

• Follow-up to the author’s internationally best-selling guide The Highly Sensitive Person
• Written for parents of highly sensitive children
• Includes a questionnaire to help parents identify common traits
• Discusses highly sensitive children at different ages, including infant, toddler, school-age and adolescent
• Considers when to step back and when to take action, including in school settings

Synopsis

This book explains how High Sensitivity can be mistaken for shyness or fussiness, and reframes what those behaviours may represent. It provides information and guidance to help parents understand their child’s traits and support them as they grow.

It also looks at highly sensitive children across different stages of development and includes a questionnaire for parents. The aim is to help children be better understood and to reduce the risk of shyness and withdrawal becoming common traps over time.