Tips and tricks for kids with Attention Challenges

Posted on February 03, 2022 by Catie J Craig, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

Canadian researchers in Toronto followed 2000 3rd grade students with attention issues for 16 years to see how this malady affected them for the long term. (Pingault et al, 2011) The startling results revealed that these kids were 8x more likely not to finish high school. The shocking dilemma was that these kids comprised 17% of the entire general school population!

I can identify with this.

Four out of six of my kids have attention issues. I can well-remember sitting up with my middle school stepson, prompting, bribing, even threatening consequences if he didn’t perform. Many times, it had to do with even starting, the simple act of picking up a pencil.

There are answers.

Most parents will resist the idea of placing their kids in a class that separates them from the rest of the other mainstreamed students. The IDEA, or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, allows individuals with a comprehensive plan to address an individual child’s needs. It is one option.

Not being able to focus is stressful. The physiological processes get revved up, causing a compounded response in the child. Anything that relieves stress is natural empowering agent. Something so simple as a squeeze toy or ball can help. Stress-reducing exercises are invaluable such as paced breathing, any technique that works for your child.

Most kids will suffer with low self-esteem due to the immediate impact of feeling “different,” and less capable than others. Shoring up how they feel about themselves with tons of positive feedbacks (not gushing), will help. Affirmations will go a long way also.

You probably know this, but “knowing” your kiddo is invaluable. Working parents don’t have lots of time to spare, but there are always a weekend for more extended times to observe how the child responds and interacts with his or her environment. Do they multi-task well, listening to music while doing homework? Do they need absolute stillness? Does he or she tense at the sound of a dog barking in the distance or the phone ringing? Finding an absolutely quiet place is invaluable for this child.

Many kids with attention challenges benefit from predetermined interruptions in their daily school and homework schedules. Try staggering chores, sandwich them in between subjects or schedule them out. At the very least, talk to your child’s teacher to help her or him understand.

Use a timer.

Stagger homework, a hobby, a chore into their schedule. Don’t place the schedule in his or her workspace, thinking that it will give your child something to look forward to. That will be all they think about the entire time, that next enjoyable activity after the mundane.

As a parent, I wanted to do something.
So, back at the turn of this Century, around Y2K, prompted by my kids’ challenges, I decided to pursue a concrete plan to do something. A woman named Madeline Griffith Haynie had a groundbreaking training program, and it seemed a natural place for me to enroll.

I haven’t regretted my decision, since.

What can you, as a parent, do? There are so many answers. Back when I began being vested in doing something concrete to help my own brood, there wasn’t much available. Today there is.

Definitely, have a conversation with Google – or BETTER, call me!