Orchid and the Dandelion

Foreword by Philippa Perry‘Based on groundbreaking research that has the power to change the lives of countless children - and the adults who love them.’ – Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of Quiet'A necessary and important book.' - Philippa Perry, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book You Wish Your Parents Had ReadAre you a hardy and resilient dandelion, or are you a more sensitive and fragile orchid?Building on the definitions of introvert, extrovert or highly sensitive, The Orchid and the Dandelion exposes – for the first time – how a combination of environmental and genetic factors contribute to what makes us who we are. This breakthrough research explains why some people struggle where others succeed, why happiness comes so easily to some while frustrations weigh more heavily on others.In The Orchid and the Dandelion, Dr W. Thomas Boyce – one of the world’s foremost researchers in the field of pediatric health – presents findings that children have two very different responses to their environments. While some children are like dandelions and can thrive in almost any environment, there are others who, like orchids, are much more reactive and susceptible to their surroundings. Now we finally have a scientific framework to understand people and how to address their unique needs to help them find their fullest potential.This groundbreaking book draws on extensive research into genetics and the exploding field of epigenetics, examples and real stories that will re-frame how we think about orchid and dandelion children – and the adults those children have become. By understanding which of us are, genetically and environmentally speaking, the orchids of this world, Dr Boyce explains how to care for and parent our children – the true orchids. He shows how we can help them thrive by sharing insights and lessons from his thirty years of research in the field.

This is a necessary and important book., Groundbreaking research that has the power to change the lives of countless children—and the adults who love them., This is the first parenting book I've read in a while that is based on common sense and science. It made me step back and look at each of my four children through different eyes. It is a powerful, groundbreaking read. And if you do have an orchid, it will help you parent them through even the hardest of times., A book for parents bewildered by their impossibly spirited children, for teachers interested in understanding the range of children in their care, for psychologists wanting insights into individual differences, and for students of the human condition everywhere. . . The Orchid and the Dandelion absorbed me like a novel., A skilled pediatrician, a gifted scientist, and a lucid writer. He has a deep understanding of the “orchid child” and its underlying biology, and he has a compelling story to tell. There is an extensive audience of parents and teachers whose lives will be touched by this book. The well-being of their children and their students will reap enormous benefits from what Tom Boyce can teach us all about the valleys and the mountaintops of child development

Dr W. Thomas Boyce is Professor of Developmental and Behavioral Health and chief of the Division of Developmental Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He is also co-director of the Child and Brain Development Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Dr Boyce’s research addresses the interplay among neurobiological and psychosocial factors leading to differences in childhood health and disease. He is the parent of two wonderful adult children, one orchid and one dandelion. He is also an avid sailor who likes to tie sailing knots and untie scientific ones. He lives with his wife in San Francisco.

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