Quiet Child

What can be done with a child that processes his day internally, without saying much?


From the moment of birth, children cry out for attention. As the child becomes older the mechanism of attention gets more complicated. It takes an attentive adult to decipher exactly what the child is saying. One child may become silent, while crying out inside for someone, anyone to notice them. A preschooler may seek attention by throwing a tantrum. A fourth grader may seek attention by getting in trouble at school. A teenager may be seeking attention by starting to smoke. The bottom line is that the child wants you to pay attention to them without asking for it.

An attentive adult would look for non verbal communication. That adult would express affectionate interest in that child and give the child the attention they seek for.

If the child does not receive the attention they crave, the child will eventually disengage and count you as irrelevant. You will not have any authority with that child. That usually happens to coincide with a drivers license.