The sensitivity that a child develops is a product of his or her genetics, the environment that surrounds him or her, and the upbringing or attachment style received. And although Highly Sensitive Children (NAS) are popularly known for their extreme sensitivity to the environment, being reflective and very little impulsive, deeper knowledge about the different degrees of perceptibility that these minors can have is not so common. We are talking about orchid children, a type of NAS with higher levels of affection or delicacy that, in addition, and depending on the circumstances, upbringing and environment they are educated in, will influence them for better or worse in their adult life.
Where does this term come from? It was coined by two specialists in human development: Bruce J. Ellis, from the University of Arizona, and W. Thomas Boyce, from the University of California (Berkeley), who based on their study Biological sensitivity to contextmade in 2015 and published in the magazine Development and Psychopathology, They chose a Swedish neologism to name a new concept of child development: orkidebarn, or orchid children. That is, those minors with the highest degree of sensitivity and hyperesthesia that exists. A term that is not included in any diagnostic manual as a disorder, but of which there are already many theories supported by mental health experts.
British professor Michael Pluess, a developmental psychologist and one of the leading authors in the field of sensitivity, in his 2020 research People are classified into different sensitivity groups: orchids, tulips and dandelions, classifies the NAS into three groups of sensitivity: “The first, the orchid children or more sensitive souls, represent 30% of people, followed by 40% of the tulips, who have an average sensitivity that can be affected depending on factors. circumstantial and, finally, dandelions, small ones with the lowest degree of sensitivity recorded, which are the remaining 30%.”
“The sensitivity of NAS children is due to two main factors: the genetic component and the influence of the environment,” he explains. Pablo Villagran, consultant and disseminator specialized in Highly Sensitive People (PAS). For this expert, both certain genes related to sensitivity and the environment play a fundamental role in a person’s level of sensitivity. “Just because something is genetic does not mean that a sensitive child necessarily has a highly sensitive parent, but rather that her parents have transmitted genes that affect sensitivity. It is wrong to say that a sensitive child always has a PAS father or mother, since epigenetics shows that inheriting genes does not always imply that they manifest themselves,” he clarifies.
For scientists studying genetics and child development, the notion of the highly sensitive or especially vulnerable child is not new. What was really novel was when they discovered how some minors (orchid children, a name coined by Thomas Boyce, professor emeritus of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the University of California in 2020) are so sensitive and reactive that they can feel very affected by the environment, but at the same time they have a great capacity for resilience. In this regard, Villagrán, author, among other books, of Highly Sensitive Children: Essential Guide 2022, describes how orchid children’s heightened sensitivity makes interactions with the environment especially influential: “This includes both negative and positive influences. Contrary to what one might think, some scientific reviews [como el informe publicado en el National Library of Medicine titulado Sensibilidad a través de la lente de los padres: validación de los padres de la escala de Niños Altamente Sensibles, y llevada a cabo por neurólogos y psicólogos] “They indicate that overprotection, for example, is not beneficial for these minors.” Some children, who, furthermore, and according to research, are especially sensitive to the quality of the upbringing they receive. As the experts state in the report in poetic language: “If neglected, these little ones quickly wither, but if cared for, they not only survive, but bloom, becoming a flower of unusual beauty and delicacy. ”.
According to Villagrán, in these cases the most appropriate thing is a type of democratic attachment, but with an authoritarian tendency, that is, secure parenting in response to the child’s needs, but with firm and clear limits, could help them reduce anxiety and stress. “Based on experience, we believe that a secure attachment and a respectful education adapted to the stages and singularities of each child are the most appropriate,” he explains.
For her part, Beatriz Sánchez, author of the blog mombrave and mother of a NAS child, tells how important it is to first inform yourself about the trait and the sensitivity subtype and accompany the child without judgment. “I hear a lot the phrase ‘You have to get used to the world being tough.’ I would say that what you have to get used to is that, despite the harshness of this world, you have a safe place in which to express your intense emotions and share them, do something nourishing with them and give them back to the world. And I hope that safe place can be their parents and caregivers,” she says. “It is effective to learn to manage their time,” this mother continues, “leaving them space between activities for that deep processing that they have and, especially, helping them manage their energy, because if there is something more valuable than time for sensitive people, it is their energy.”
Furthermore, it emphasizes that these children are a gift. “My son has a great capacity for observation, and that ability to detect differences is not only applied to the tangible, but he is able to notice subtle differences in the moods of others. That innate and deep empathy means that he doesn’t miss anything, he asks about it, he is interested and he takes charge,” he explains. However, the high capacity to empathize can be a double-edged sword. “He can be responsible for things that do not concern him and for emotions that must be guided,” he continues, “when we fall into the trap of seeing that minor who seems so adult to us in the way he responds, is interested and speaks, we can consider “A fact that he can manage it like an adult, but he is still a child, in this way, the strengths can be precisely his weaknesses in a hostile environment that does not properly accompany the hyperperceptive minor.”
And these minors are not only influenced by the home, but also by how they develop at school. In fact, the most recent study on NAS children published this year in the American Psychiatric Association (APA), called Development of High Sensitivity in Primary Children, highlights the importance of conducting an interview with all children from the moment they enter Primary about their range of sensitivity, given its great usefulness for educational psychologists in the following grades or for their medical history in general.
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