An Emotional Short About Children With Different Abilities
“Lorenzo’s Dipper” is an emotional story by Isabelle Carrier The author recreates the daily life of a different child through tender illustrations. His difficulties, his qualities, as well as the obstacles he has to face, are metaphorically represented in a clear and intelligent way.
Below you can see this story in audiovisual format:
This week, Alejandra Escura, a collaborating child psychologist at the Mensalus Psychological and Psychiatric Assistance Institute, rescues a short animation that tells the original story of Isabelle Carrier in order to offer some practical guidelines for parents.
Are these types of stories worked on in the Psychology consultation?
Stories that especially use metaphorical language to transform seemingly complicated processes (due to the emotional charge they entail) into simple concepts are fantastic psychoeducational tools that are of great help in individual and family therapies.
Its power lies in the ability to speak clearly about what we fear so much and present it as a natural process that can be approached from a constructive perspective. With stories like the one we present today, we understand that accepting the conflict, the situation, the difficulty, etc. It always adds up.
What do we “add” with “Lorenzo’s saucepan”?
Good. We especially highlight the importance of following Lorenzo’s path precisely because of the richness that this very functional vision of the saucepan provides. He ends up carrying his red saucepan in a bag, which allows him to overcome the difficulties that previously hindered him. He achieves all this thanks to the security offered by an adult reference, a person who, with love and dedication, shows him the path while offering him the independence to experience it.
How do parents usually react to the presence of the “dipper”?
The parents fear that the child will suffer and react to this alert. In reality, his anticipatory anxiety is one of the elements that can generate the most emotional tension. For this reason, we work together with families to increase self-awareness about the effects of anxiety at home.
When this anxiety is very high, parents only see “the saucepan.” If this occurs, the overprotection that triggers the alert can seriously hinder the child’s ability to acquire resources in a healthy way.
What examples of attitudes related to overprotection can limit a child’s personal growth?
For example, a continuous reward system. Sometimes parents overreward (physically or verbally) in order to motivate their child. The result is a disconnection with positive reinforcement as it loses meaning. If the child does not feel that she has made an effort and receives a reward, what is the point? For this reason, it is important to recognize the achievement but also normalize it so that, in this way, the child believes in her ability to pursue goals naturally. Seeing that the elders trust him is the best way.
In this sense, speeches that enhance ingenuity (e.g.: “I liked how you did “X”, “I see that you achieved “Y” without having to do “Z”, etc.) offer extra information to the child. that does not reveal the “dipper” and, instead, shows a particular strategy typical of his modus operandi.
There is a moment when Lorenzo hides under his saucepan. What guidelines can help parents in these cases?
At first it is important to encourage the child to express how he feels and show understanding. Putting words to emotions opens a communication channel that increases the child’s capacity for insight and helps them connect with others. On the other hand, highlighting his capabilities again through facts will be our objective. The action is what will show the child how to carry the saucepan hanging instead of continually looking through it.
That said, we would encourage parents to go out with their children in order to enjoy sports practice, a walk, an excursion, a dinner, a family visit, an educational outing, etc., taking the spotlight away from the saucepan and giving it to the child and the activity itself.
Living and feeling with the saucepan turns the person into a free being who finds the resource in themselves. On the contrary, keeping your eyes permanently on the pot causes its size to increase (this is when thoughts related to limitation arise).
What would you say to all those parents who are reading this interview?
The dipper is natural, it is part of that person, which is why it is important not to see it as an obstacle but as an opportunity to acquire essential resources that make them the protagonist of their own life story.
As parents, being there to listen, understand and accompany is the best way to offer the child the opportunity to experience, learn and grow alongside the pot.
