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A review by steph_84
The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them by Elaine N. Aron
4.0
There were definitely things that irked me throughout this book, specifically:
1. The insistence on the binary categories of “highly sensitive” and “non-sensitive”, rather than a continuum, seemed both unnecessary and inaccurate. I did the test and my results were solidly borderline, and as friend said - can’t kids just be “sensitive”?!
2. Following from 1, the assumption that HSCs should be treated differently from other kids, rather than recognising that all kids deserve attuned parenting.
3. The framing of special “HSCs” who have nothing to do with those disasterous children with ADHD or ASD or other conditions. It was a bit offensive I thought, though maybe the phrasing is just an American style for an American audience. Which brings me to...
4. The assumption that all readers were white middle-class Americans who have the privilege to be choosy about teachers and reject social expectations without risk of serious trouble. The only time I remember anyone other than white people being mentioned was a cringe-worthy example about telling a white kid that he knows more about Native Americans than other kids. I hope that bit is edited out in future print-runs!
BUT despite all that I’m still giving four stars because the concept of a HSC was so helpful for understanding my daughter, and why things that work for other kids don’t work for her (and vice versa). The section on babies was particularly helpful because it filled a gap in terms of understanding and attuning to kids aged under 2 - I hadn’t seen/heard about that elsewhere.
Recommended if you’ve got an “HSC” otherwise I’d go for Adele/Joanna Faber or Dan Siegel for how-to guides for attuned parenting.
1. The insistence on the binary categories of “highly sensitive” and “non-sensitive”, rather than a continuum, seemed both unnecessary and inaccurate. I did the test and my results were solidly borderline, and as friend said - can’t kids just be “sensitive”?!
2. Following from 1, the assumption that HSCs should be treated differently from other kids, rather than recognising that all kids deserve attuned parenting.
3. The framing of special “HSCs” who have nothing to do with those disasterous children with ADHD or ASD or other conditions. It was a bit offensive I thought, though maybe the phrasing is just an American style for an American audience. Which brings me to...
4. The assumption that all readers were white middle-class Americans who have the privilege to be choosy about teachers and reject social expectations without risk of serious trouble. The only time I remember anyone other than white people being mentioned was a cringe-worthy example about telling a white kid that he knows more about Native Americans than other kids. I hope that bit is edited out in future print-runs!
BUT despite all that I’m still giving four stars because the concept of a HSC was so helpful for understanding my daughter, and why things that work for other kids don’t work for her (and vice versa). The section on babies was particularly helpful because it filled a gap in terms of understanding and attuning to kids aged under 2 - I hadn’t seen/heard about that elsewhere.
Recommended if you’ve got an “HSC” otherwise I’d go for Adele/Joanna Faber or Dan Siegel for how-to guides for attuned parenting.