Supporting Highly Sensitive Kids in Schools
A new questionnaire to help teachers identify sensitive children in the classroom
There’s still a few places left on a four-day retreat I’m running with Jules De Vitto next month at the beautiful Quadrangle in Kent. Details here.
Resonant Parenting Project #21
It was wonderful to attend the 2nd International Conference on Sensitivity Research last week, organised and chaired by Professor Michael Pluess , Dr Francesca Lionetti, Professor Corina Greven and the Sensitivity Research Group.
The conference started with a fantastic keynote talk from sensitivity study pioneers Dr Elaine Aron and Art Aron, who presented their latest findings. They discussed the confusion around the highly sensitive trait, and why the majority of sensitive people who are thriving tend to be less visible in the world than those who struggle.
As someone who has been privileged to work with highly sensitive children for over a decade, in both NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and private practice (Resonant Parenting Project#20: Why I Began To Work with Highly Sensitive Kids'), I was particularly interested to hear postdoctoral researcher Jenni Elise Kähkönen’s presentation on highly sensitive children in primary schools. Jenni explained that there’s no published teacher questionnaire for high sensitivity, and there are gaps in our knowledge on sensitive children’s educational needs.
Jenni’s Phd research was designed to fill this gap, and she described her involvement in the development of a new questionnaire to help teachers identify sensitive children in their classroom. This questionnaire has been in the works for the last six to seven years, with data collected across primary schools in Italy, Switzerland and the UK.
It’s called “The Highly Sensitive Child Scale,” and includes the following six criteria:
1. Easily notices how others are feeling
2. Is thinking deeply about things
3. Is very sensitive to injustice
4. Gets easily distressed when other children are fighting
5. Appears to feel things deeply
6. Tries hard to avoid making mistakes or forgetting things
As overstimulation and nervous system dysregulation is a key issue that I work on with sensitive children, it was great to hear Jenni also mention a concise scale to assess a child’s tendency towards overstimulation. She hopes this could be used as an additional tool by teachers to identify signs of overwhelm, and make helpful changes in the classroom.
This scale includes three questions:
1. Struggles to focus in loud and chaotic situations
2. Needs some quiet time after an exciting activity
3. Feels easily overwhelmed when under pressure
Jenni explained that differences were found across countries and school environments which would need to be clarified in future research. For example, in Switzerland, being a sensitive child was linked with higher social competence and higher grades, but not in the UK. In Switzerland, teachers didn’t report any link between children being sensitive and tending to internalise their emotions. However, in the UK, the opposite was true, and teachers reported that sensitive children were showing more signs of worry.
Raising Awareness in Schools
Having worked as a clinical psychologist in the NHS, I’ve seen many sensitive children who have struggled with school, so raising awareness of high sensitivity in the education system is something I really welcome.
Parents often tell me that they’re worried their sensitive child is getting lost and overlooked at school because they’re quiet, and they question whether they’re thriving to their full potential.
Others say their child holds everything together at school but when they get home they fall apart and have huge emotional outbursts, which are extremely difficult to manage.
Others believe their school doesn’t always fully “get” and understand their child, and may unfairly label them needy, anxious, lacking in self-confidence, slow to adapt, or disruptive.
Many parents tell me they worry that teachers don’t see their ‘real’ child – the child who, when feeling safe and relaxed around family and friends, is incredibly social, chatty and funny, with a sparkling, playful wit.
I’ve supported parents to become empowered and confident enough to advocate for their children in the school system, and raise awareness of high sensitivity. Some have handed Dr Elaine Aron’s book “The Highly Sensitive Child” over to their child’s teacher (there’s a section in the index with specific tips for teachers). Many teachers have been extremely open, curious and interested to hear about a concept that was new to them.
I’ve often found that when teachers have more understanding of this trait, they’re able to make a few tweaks in the school environment that can have a hugely positive impact on a child’s experience.
I was therefore excited to hear about the research, and watch the panel discussion thrashing out some of the key questions, including the challenges of defining sensitivity clearly, and the limitations of using questionnaires.
For a society which likes labels and putting people into boxes, it’s attractive to think that we could give teachers a brief questionnaire which could help them separate children into two groups; those who are highly sensitive, and those who aren’t. I was pleased to hear members of the panel acknowledge that as humans we’re far more complex, and sensitivity is a complex personality trait, which they’re still trying to define and understand. They all agreed that our unique differences could never be sufficiently captured by a few questions on a sheet, but that questionnaires can be useful indicators of sensitivity.
Dr Aron also spoke to one of my main concerns, which is around being careful not to ‘label’ children, both for the impact it can have on them, and also among their peers, and parents. Since high sensitivity isn’t a condition or diagnosis, but an innate personality temperament, it’s important that we’re clear in the way we talk about the trait with teachers, parents and children. Based on the research, we can now acknowledge that this is a real trait, but there’s still a need to dispel myths and misconceptions. It’s also important to avoid any child concluding that there’s something ‘wrong’ with them, or indeed ‘special’ about them.
It was a lively panel discussion, with researchers being refreshingly honest about some of the issues they’re currently grappling with including how to measure more reliably whether someone actually is a highly sensitive person. Overall I was very appreciative to hear about the research currently being carried out and will follow the new teacher measure with great interest.
I believe that the education system needs a complete evolutionary update, and I’d love to see schools and teachers being given the freedom to be more nurturing and holistic. By raising awareness of high sensitivity, we’re making progress, since any changes in the classroom that benefit identified sensitive children will ultimately benefit every single child. Supporting as many children as possible to feel more understood, safe and cared for, and to have a positive experience of school, has to be the ultimate goal.
I write the Resonant Parenting Project in between my work as a conscious parenting coach and looking after my six-year-old daughter Matilda. Any support from readers through liking, sharing, subscribing or buying me a coffee helps make this work sustainable. Thank you!