Home	Author •• Books •• Press and Book Reviews •• Papers & Articles •• Theory & Practice •• Research Questions •• Free Downloads •• Sample Syllabi •• Courses & Workshops •• Contact © 2002, 2010 Susan Rich Sheridan

Back to Marks and Mind Book Series Dandelion Children and Orchid Children; new ways of understanding child behavior, with more praise for mothers, who make the difference. Genes which shape behavior are extremely susceptible to experience, especially in early childhood. Genetic researchers have coined two new terms: dandelion children and orchid children. Dandelions are hardy children, who thrive easily. Orchid children are extra-sensitive and reactive and require a “greenhouse” environment to flourish. However, “with greenhouse care,” such children “bloom spectacularly,” becoming, in many instances, the adults who change societya. "What happens at the dyadic level, between mother and infant, ultimately affects the very nature and survival of the larger social group." "Gene-by-interaction" studies prove that the childhood experience of orchid children determines the outcome for those children as teenagers and adultsa. Between the ages of 1 and 3, some children – the “orchid” children - "indulge heavily in oppositional, aggressive, uncooperative and aggravating behavior." These children are often ADHD, and are at risk for depression, drug addiction, violence, and social failure. A new theory of child development and child psychology focuses on the orchid child’s special potential for plasticity, or adaptable behavior. Mothers are facing new opportunities for parenting, albeit in difficult situations, "where risk becomes possibility; vulnerability becomes plasticity." Families and society will select for parents who are able to invest in both dandelion children, and in orchid children. An increasing number of children who seek novelty, while exhibiting a restless attention, as well as aggression, suggests a genetic propensity in the general population toward new behaviors. Literacy, as a set of expressive, contemplative, self-organizing activities, provides important long term strategies for shaping emotional self-control and reasonable behavior in all children through scribbling, drawing, writing and reading. As our genetics transform us in response to the demands of our environment, our major invention for orderly, energy-conserving behavior across mind/body systems - symbolic thought, or literacy - continues to provide our refuge from an increasingly hot and noisy environment, as well as our outreach into that stressful world, which is, after all, our matrix, and our mother. And so it comes ‘round; our mother is calling for help. Footnotes: a. Dobbs, David. 2009. "The Science of Success." December 2009 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. A Prayer, May we humans, including parents and children, come closer together in mutual understand and respect. We are in need of practical motheds for self-knowledge and reconciliation, including how to grow past rage and fear. Our souls are unsteady in an unsteady universe. As potters of the clay of our own souls, we require new methods for self-centering. May marks of meaning guide our hands.

Please e-mail your questions or comments for Dr. Sheridan at susansheri@gmail.com

Page design and construction by Plummer's Mines
Page maintenance by Jeannine Lawall