Q. We have three children. Two of them are into everything with their friends and us; the youngest seems to hang back and prefers reading or writing poetry to competing and participating in social activities. I don’t understand her. Can The Brain Program help me with this child?

A. I believe the knowledge you can gain by attending The Brain Program can help you a great deal. All things being equal, you have just described behaviors that represent high extroversion on the one hand and high introversion on the other. We devote an entire session at The Brain Program to the Extroversion-Introversion Continuum and the impact of one’s innate position on this continuum to the expression of a variety of behaviors.

In general, our society does not reward introversion. Because of that, extreme introverts can experience a great deal of pressure to exhibit more extroverted behaviors and can perceive themselves as deficient in some way. They can feel like misfits! Understanding this can help you to understand yourself and your child in a way that honors differences. The relationship between you and your child is what’s most important. Rejecting, shaming, or coercing her to be like her siblings, especially if her innate preferences differ from theirs, could have negative consequences to both of you.