[preslee1031]

I have posted here in the past about my 8 year old Son who we are pretty sure is gifted. Lately he seems more sensitive than ever. He has had a few crying spells where he just sits on the couch and cries for no apparant reason. I ask him what's wrong and he always responds with "I'm bored". He is "bored" for the majority of the day.<br>
Now that he's playing baseball again the crying spells have stopped but now we've moved on to other "phases".<br>
He absolutely hates cursing. If he hears anything that even sounds like a curse word he flips out! His face turns bright red and his eyes start to well up. Then he is mad for the rest of the day. We don't "curse" in our house as a rule. Sometimes I might slip but it's rare. If he hears a song on the radio or even someone say something like "beaver dam" he freaks and thinks they are using "dam" as a curse word. He is very sensitive to the way others are treated. If he thinks someone is being treated unfairly he does all he can to make sure the situation is fixed. If my Daughter gets upset about something he won't relax until she is better. If she's upset with me he says "Mom you need to tell her you're sorry!!" he will start tearing up at this point.<br>
There are so many examples that it's hard to list them all but I was wondering if anyone else has had any of these same issues with their children.<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/irked.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="irked">

 

[Naomi]

This doesn't sound like typical sensitivity to me. This sounds like an anxiety disorder, or possibly OCD.<br><br>
There are some excellent books to help kids with anxiety and OCD issues -- the anxiety one is called "What to Do when you Worry Too Much" and the OCD one is "What to Do when your Brain Gets Stuck."<br><br>
A kid who gets extremely upset over hearing someone say "beaver dam" because he thinks they're swearing has a problem and deserves some help dealing with it.

 

[connieculkins]

He could just be a highly sensitive child..There is a great book on the subject written by Elaine Aron, <span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Highly Sensitive Child</span>. Our family is very sensitive and we have to make our life simple, healthy and thoughtful in order not to get overwhelmed. The upside to being sensitive is that you end up being a much more deep and empathizing individual. Elaine does say in one of her other books that highly sensitive people are gifted and it seems they are over represented in the arts, among authors, healers etc.<br><br>
I don't know about your son, but I've noticed that sensitive gifted kids aren't the straight faced and stable achievers that other gifted kids may be. They may achieve for a while, but then they 'burn out', but then after a break they go back to achieving. It makes for an interesting scholastic record.

 

[joensally]

It sounds like he needs some help building his resilience and flexible thinking skills. It sounds like these things are causing him problems so it would be great to provide him with strategies, because the world only becomes more complicated as they age.<br><br>
I would recommend reading up on executive functioning, anxiety and OCD. He may not have issues with any of these, but you may find strategies that work for him.<br><br>
It's interesting that the baseball cures the boredom. Maybe he needs other sports throughout the year.<br><br>
I can recommend books if any of these topic areas are interesting to you. My self-management strategy to deal with <i>my</i> anxiety is to read extensively and I have a few faves. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/winky.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink">

 

[preslee1031]

Thank you all very much for your responses. I am looking forward to getting the books you've suggested and learning more about why he acts the way he does sometimes. We have an appointment with his pediatrician at the end of the month and I'm planning on discussing this with him...Thanks again! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up">

 

[happilyloved]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>joensally</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/15383752"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">It sounds like he needs some help building his resilience and flexible thinking skills. It sounds like these things are causing him problems so it would be great to provide him with strategies, because the world only becomes more complicated as they age.<br><br>
I would recommend reading up on executive functioning, anxiety and OCD. He may not have issues with any of these, but you may find strategies that work for him.<br><br>
It's interesting that the baseball cures the boredom. Maybe he needs other sports throughout the year.<br><br>
I can recommend books if any of these topic areas are interesting to you. My self-management strategy to deal with <i>my</i> anxiety is to read extensively and I have a few faves. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/winky.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink"></div>
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I'd love to hear any suggestions you have. My 7 year old's anxiety has been ramping up and up and is off the charts at the moment. I had never connected it to her intelligence (I would call her gifted, but not necessarily profoundly gifted) until a conference this weekend but now I am starting to wonder.