Concepts and Terms
Rather than viewing attentional difficulties as a pathology, health professionals are beginning to view attention problems on a spectrum. These are children with potential talents and strong creative urges who are easily distracted and distractible. Attention as defined in the terms below, is required in many of our daily tasks both in and out of school.
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Concentration –Another way of saying paying attention.
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Planning – Planning helps your mind predict what you will do or say before the task occurs. Planning can prevent mistakes and help you be more efficient.
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Impulse/Impulsive – You act and/or say something without thinking.
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Self-monitoring –This strategy is extremely helpful because it enables you to go back and pay attention to what you’ve have completed.
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Mental energy- The amount of focus a person brings to a task. Students may have difficulty staying awake or engaging with their work. Conversely, some students have too much energy, their mind moves from subject to subject, and they may have difficulty completing a conversation or staying on topic.
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Attention deficits –This occurs when a person has trouble paying attention. Students who have trouble with attention get distracted easily as well as get tired and bored when they try to pay attention to something they are not interested in. They have trouble finishing their work, work too quickly without thinking, move around a great deal, and don’t realize when they make mistake.
Strategies for Seating
In the classroom, students with attention deficits can be distracted visually and/or by an auditory stimulus. If the student is distracted by sounds, make sure they are seated in an area that is quiet, perhaps next to a quiet student. They may also work better away from students. For students who are distracted visually, make sure they are sitting facing a blank wall or are in an area that is not visually interesting.
Some of these students may also need to move and fidget. You can test out a squishy ball, but make sure you establish the rules for the ball. You can also try having the student sit on a cushion or yoga ball. While the student is trying to balance themselves, it is easier to stay focused. Of course, these strategies may distract other students. A solution for this is to share the accommodation with the class and explain the purpose for it. Many of your students will want to try it. They will realize that it does not work for them, so they will lose interest.
Strategies for Teaching
In a longitudinal study of 15,000 children, researchers examined whether there were objective measures that could predict adult happiness. There were two: feeling connected to home and feeling connected at school. Children who felt safe, cared for and loved by an adult at home or at some point in their school life, reported feeling happy and content as adults. According to Dr. Hallowell, there are five criteria that teachers can use to help a child learn in school.
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Connect: helping a student to investigate and learn about areas of interest; getting to know your student
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Play: having time to imagine and wonder
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Practice: learning over time with repetition
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Mastery: making progress at something that is challenging and rewarding
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Recognition: being valued for real progress and effort.
Specific teaching recommendations depend upon the complexion of a child’s difficulties.
Alternatives to Medication
Seeking alternatives to medication requires diligent research. These are some of the alternative medications or treatments that parents have tried. Evidence may or may not be empirical.
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Many parents decide to try natural remedies. There are studies showing some megavitamins help quite a bit, especially fish oils.
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Biofeedback appears to have immediate effects. It is an expensive treatment and requires an intensive training period.
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Meditation is another alternative. The student learns to feel and know how to quiet themselves. Often teenagers like this approach.
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Yoga is another great way for students to practice their breathing.
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Cranial Sacral is a gentle, hands-on method of evaluating and enhancing the functioning of a physiological body system called the craniosacral system - comprised of the membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.
Links About Attention
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http://addwarehouse.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/index.html ADD Warehouse has the world's largest collection of ADHD-related books, videos, training programs, games, professional texts and assessment products.
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www.maginationpress.com Magination Press was created out of a desire to publish innovative books that would help children deal with the many challenges and problems they face as they grow up. Written for ages 4 through 18, these books deal with topics ranging from the everyday—starting school, shyness, normal fears, and a new baby in the house—to more serious problems, such as divorce, attention deficit disorder, depression, serious injury or illness, autism, trauma, death, and much more.
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http://www.ncpamd.com/adhd.htm This is a private group of psychologists, but the articles are good and discuss medication, resources, books and diagnosis.
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http://www.ed.gov/teachers/needs/speced/adhd/adhe-resource-ptl.pdf If there is one article to read, this is it. Developed by the US Department of Education, the information covers current research regarding causes, identification, legal issues, treatment and school interventions.
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www.nichy.org/pubs/factshe/fs7txt.htm-24K Through the National Institute of Child Health, a longitudinal study was run. Researchers examined treatment modalities and created a standard of care used by many clinicians. The observation, parent education and follow-up model is being used by Kaiser.
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www.allkindsofminds.com Go to the learning base, articles and/or glossary for excellent information. In addition, the Parent Toolkit has a terrific first hand experience that demonstrates visual and auditory attentional difficulties.
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www.schoolsattuned.com On the Schools Attuned site, the teacher tool kit and extended learning resources provide additional information.
Books for Kids
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Learning to Slow Down and Pay Attention by Kathleen G. Nadeau and Ellen B. Dixon
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Cory Stories A Kid’s Book About Living with ADHD by Jeanne Kraus
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Sparky’s Excelling Misadventures My ADD Journal by Me Sparky by Phyllis Carpenter and Marti Ford
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Putting on the Brakes A Young People’s Guide to Understanding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder by Patricia O. Quinn and Judith M. Stern
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A Walk In the Rain With a Brain by Dr. Hallowell
Books for Parents
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Author Thomas Phelan has a series of books ranging from home management to guiding a teen with impulse difficulties.
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Another prolific writer and researcher, Dr. Hallowell has written many books on attention. Some of the most popular are: Positively ADD-Real Success Stories to Inspire Your Dreams, Driven to Distraction, Delivered From Distraction.