Are you wondering if your child is intuitive? Chances are, you're reading this because you've done enough double-takes with your child to make you wonder. I used to think Lucas was quite unique in his abilities, but through my own experiences with many young children, I've come to understand that he is just one of the multitudes of highly sensitive children being born with heightened intuition, empathy, and extra-sensory perception, among other gifts. Conservatively speaking, I would say at least half of all the small children I meet (the preschool set and younger) are intuitive.

Mystics, intuitives, and those in New Age circles commonly call these children Indigos or Crystals. For a while, I, too, used these labels to refer to kids like Lucas, but eventually found them to have limited usefulness in terms of communicating helpful information to parents who didn't identify with the New Age spin on this phenomenon. Instead, I've found it to be far more useful to refer to the actual characteristics of so many of today's children, which can be summed up by saying that compared to most grownups, they're freakishly intuitive. Of the many descriptors of intuitive children, the following list is what I've actually observed and has been the most useful in understanding my son and others like him.

Characteristics of Intuitive Children

• Physically sensitive: often presenting with food allergies and eczema from an early age; very sensitive to loud sounds, scratchy clothing, bright lights, new smells, and so on.
  
• Emotionally sensitive: deeply affected by the energy of spaces and people, even in movies or on TV, mirroring and amplifying the energy of those around them. (It's PMS for the whole family!)
  
• Psychic: reading projected thoughts, predicting events, and sensitive to things beyond the normal range of perception, like communicating with others who are not in this physical plane. (They see dead people.)
  
• Spiritually aware: sharing stories of past lives or other wisdom that seems well beyond their years.
  
• Gifted: displaying uncommonly advanced abilities in one or more areas, like music, art, sports, language, or math.
  
• Powerful: whether introverted or extroverted, possessing loads of personal power and energy, often expressed as controlling or willful behavior until they learn to redirect it in positive ways.
  

Your child may not display all of these characteristics. There is no rule regarding how many of these characteristics a child needs to possess to be considered intuitive. Use your own discernment. It's not a club. There is no testing for intuition to get into special classes. Rather, if you suspect your child is intuitive, then looking at them through this lens will help you to better understand them, support them and nurture their gifts.