Intuitive Intelligence

We have all heard the terms used to describe sensitive children. Everything from indigo, crystal, rainbow, to ADHD, autistic, or children having sensory processing issues. I felt a post on Today's Intuitive Children (a group on facebook) yesterday, was a beautiful interpretation of how we need to stay away from labels, because of the long term impact it has on our children and their self- esteem. In our book- Raising Intuitive Children, we take a different approach to describe our sensitive children by giving them knowledge of their intelligence. Something we term- Intuitive Intelligence.

In the traditional psychological model the child is described as having one of the following attributes (or a combination of such)- physical, mental, emotional, intuitive or spiritual. In our book, we pair the traditional intelligence with an intuitive intelligence. Below in the chart, you will see the description of the natural intelligence when paired with an intuitive intelligence. What this chart does and what this discovery directs us toward, is the natural/ intuitive gifts our children possess. When acknowledged by a parent or caregiver, this can guide children to know what their gifts are and trust the development of them.
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Here I will give a few examples of how you may see the natural intelligence paired together with an intuitive intelligence.

In the chart we pair the natural intelligence of being "physical" with a child's intuitive awareness of their body in relation to their space or activity, and now we give the overactive (or energetic) child who may be referred to as having ADHD, an intuitive intelligence. When we become aware of this as an intuitive gift vs. a problem, we find ways to help the child effectively manage their influx of energy. In the book, I refer to my oldest son as being a physical intuitive. He is a gifted athlete and at an early age, we taught him to channel his energy by becoming involved in sports, Tae Kwon Do, and yoga. You might also see this show up for a child in school by their lack of focus or ability to sit still; this is due to their heightened flow of energy. Encourage your child to hold onto something or give them something to squeeze during the times they need to focus the most. This will help ground them by giving them something to be aware of in relation to their body.

Next we pair the mental with creative and we have the Creative, Inspired intuitive intelligence. These are our children who exhibit strong interest in the arts. Children we might refer to as drama queens or being overly dramatic. They love the arts, music, dance, singing...etc. They often daydream, have trouble staying focused and mostly learn through experimentation. Creative intuitives need firm boundaries put in place or they are likely to run the class or household. Finding the source of their passion is a great way to channel their creative energy. If they love to dance or sing, give them their own radio; find a musical instrument they can drum away on; engage them in watching people who do the things they are interested in. There is a lot of controversy over whether children should watch T.V, but for the creative child, it sometimes gives them the ability to connect or identify with the gifts inside them.

How many times have you seen a celebrity interviewed and the one thing they attribute their success to is seeing that one star who inspired them to become an actor?

My oldest daughter is a creative intuitive. From the age of 7 months she had rhythm; something I had not seen in such a young child. She actually loved Baby Einstein, but for her she identified with the music, the movement, the rhythm. She is an avid singer, dancer, performer; all around musically inclined. Today she loves to sit down with us and watch American Idol and tells us every week- "when I get bigger I am going to be on Idol." Who knows, but what better way for her to discover her passion than to be able to identify with someone else doing it?

The key to understanding our children and their gifts is to acknowledge and become aware of their natural intelligence paired with their intuitive intelligence. As the chart demonstrates, we can pair any one of the five natural intelligences with what we have discovered today are our intuitive intelligences. All children have an intuitive knowing; its up to us as parents to help them trust and develop it. This can also take us out of the mind set of using labels- the ones that seem special like indigo, rainbow and crystal; as well as the ones that follow a child through life like ADHD, autistic and sensory integration, which can make a child feel like there is something wrong with them.


For more detailed information about the intuitive intelligences and how they impact today's sensitive children, you can purchase your copy of Raising Intuitive Children here!

Labels and Your Intuition About Your Kids

There is a lot of discussion these days about our children being labeled with learning disabilities and whether its appropriate given what we know about our children's sensitivities. For a long time, it has angered me to know that institutions, who don't directly relate to many of our children, could be in a position to tell us there is something wrong with them. Labels for everything from sensory processing, auditory processing, aspergers, autism to ADD or ADHD (whichever term they are using in this moment). Sounds to me like the only people NOT being labeled are the child prodigy's (and we know how few and far between they are).

As the mom of four kids ranging in age from a teenager to an infant, I feel equipped through experience, to share my feelings and perception about this topic. My oldest son Adam, is one of those kids who fits in well with the traditional school model. He understands the material easily; he tests well; he's outgoing, athletic; a kid who will succeed no matter what is thrown his way. He is also naturally intuitive which gives him the ability to read his surroundings and other people, but in a way that doesn't affect his personal energetic space.

Conclusion: Not a child one would think would be labeled with anything.

However, in kindergarten there was one teacher who gently commented that we may want to watch him for ADD. Given my intuitive knowing as a parent I strongly disagreed and found other ways to help him channel his energy. We put him in Tae Kwon Do and took him to yoga. What I came to understand about him, was that his natural intuitive gifts are demonstrated through his physical being. He is a gifted athlete and as long as he's moving the abundance of energy he has been blessed with, he functions perfectly well.

*In Raising Intuitive Children Adam is an example of the Physical Intuitive intelligence.

My younger son on the other hand is the complete opposite. He is emotionally sensitive, something I was aware of about him, at a very early age. He connects with the earth energies- water, crystals, animals; is compassionate; a humitarian; feels the emotions of the people around him; began seeing colors at the age of 3 and started having clairvoyant experiences at the age of 4; he struggles with reading and comprehending what he's read, but he is excellent in math and strategic games like chess; and he's drawn to art and music. Caden is a visual/ kinesthetic learner and doesn't process things the way a left- brained linear thinker does.

Conclusion: The schools wants to test him for auditory processing disorder and his teacher said they may lean toward ADHD too.

Now I am not against techniques that will help him function more easily in school, like the ones they would use to test his auditory skills, because what I have observed is that his confidence and self- esteem are compromised when he feels like he's not as smart as the other kids. I do however, have a problem with this being done because he isn't reading at the level they expect him to be. As far as ADHD is concerned, he absolutely does not exhibit characteristics of this label. Yes his mind moves faster and requires tricks to slow him down, but he is running at an incredibly high vibration, something we are not accepting of (or even aware of) in our world at this time.

Techniques I use to slow his mind down are things he can relate to energetically. As I said, he is intune with the earth energies. He takes a crystal to school with him and can either feel it through his pocket or hold it in his hand. This reminds him to stay grounded. I make sure he has a water bottle with him and he is encouraged to sip from it frequently. From a very early age, Caden used water as a natural way to ground himself (he would swim, take a bath, soak in the hot tub) so by drinking water, it has a similar affect and calms him. He is blessed to have a teacher who is also a meditation instructor, so we have discussed her walking by and touching his shoulder from time to time, so he feels connected which helps him remain centered.

*In Raising Intuitive Children, Caden is an example of the Empathic Intuitive and Psychic intelligence.

Although it can be daunting to know what the answers are for your kids or how to fight a system that appears broken, my best advice is to trust your intuition. If someone tells you something you don't feel right about, question it. Pay attention to what your kids may energetically be telling you as well. Often times, our kids will lead us toward what is best for them if we take the time to pay attention. I had every intention of homeschooling Caden this year. The fact that he is a psychically, empathic child made school difficult for him at times and we agreed third grade would be the time to change our method of schooling. We moved back home to upstate NY from VA, right before school started and Caden requested to go to school. We even discussed him staying back in second grade so he could have another year to build his confidence and registered him in second only to find out they placed him in third. It all made sense when I found out his teacher is also a meditation instructor and certified in Reiki 1 and 2. I have also been told he would work with autistic children someday and what better way to understand their sensitivities than to experience some of what they experience.

We may not always understand why things happen a certain way, but what I have found is that if we trust the natural flow; trust ourselves enough to know we have the answers; and listen to what our children may not be saying to us verbally, but may be saying to us energetically; things always work out for the best!

Copyright 2010, Tara Paterson, All Rights Reserved