One in five children are born highly sensitive (HS), with nervous systems that are more
sensitive to sensory subtleties. The highly sensitive child (HSC) presents with behaviour
that is often a way of coping with sensory overload from their environment. The
symptoms of HS are often mistaken for shyness, introversion, timidity and a low sensory
threshold. Because of their lack of understanding, teachers mislabel and misdiagnose
these children as being mentally ill, or as suffering from, inter alia, ADHD or learning
problems. When such children (HSC) are misunderstood, they begin to feel ‘different’
and ‘flawed’, which can lead to low self–esteem. The purpose of this study is to explore
perceptions by HS children in middle childhood, to explore how aware they are of HS,
and to discover the extent to which they have been affected by negative labelling often
caused by being misunderstood, misdiagnosed and misinterpreted. The structured
interviews conducted with HSC comprised of an interactive story, which had been
written and illustrated to create explicit awareness of HS. After the storybook had been
read, an interview schedule on HS was applied. Next, a focus group interview was
conducted with the teachers to gather more rich data, thereby ensuring its
trustworthiness. The aim was to explore the teachers’ perceptions of HSC in middle
childhood. This exploration was necessary for making effective recommendations for
managing and supporting HSC, so that the children can reach their full potential. Many
HSC are gifted, and often become visionaries and pioneers in their particular fields. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/6951 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Durbach, Lisa-Mandi |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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