This animated video is drawn from one of my most popular pieces of writing, ever. It tells the story of how a sensitive child thinks, feels, and experiences the world. I anticipate that it will be of most interest to sensitive children and adults who interact with them in caregiving and professional roles.

I am a sensitive child.

There are many children like me.

We find this world a challenging place to live in.

We get tired. We get upset. We feel overwhelmed.

What you think is a little thing is a big problem for us.

Noise often bothers us. Our clothing too. Even the food we are expected to eat.

We are particularly sensitive of the feelings of others.

We can see in your face, in your eyes, that we bother you.

We sometimes doubt whether people care about us, understand us, love us.

We try hard to keep our feelings under control, but we find this very difficult when we are with the people who we expect to love us, understand us, accept us.

In this world where we so often feel overwhelmed and out-of-control we crave order.

We often insist upon this, such as when we demand that our parents follow the usual route to kindy or school.

We like repetition, preferring the same foods day by day.

We are not autistic; though many will say we are.

We need your patience, your flexibility, your understanding, your unconditional love.

We need you to be there for us, to connect with us and to support us.

With enough of these experiences, we assure you we will grow into sensible, mature and caring young adults.

And would not the world benefit from more adults like us?