Here are my notes from my course with Frances Steinberg on attention and processing:
Everyone has preferences about how they process information.
We go through steps of processing:
Reception
Perception
Storage
Retrieval
Response
Evaluation
Ovelaying all these steps is attention. If someone struggles with attention they will have trouble with processing.
When someone is having trouble with attention you have to differentiate between 'can't' and 'won't.' Always err on the side of 'can't.' Then the worst you will do is give them a little extra support.
Be fair. Not equality, but everyone getting what they need to be successful. Can demonstrate this by getting the tallest and shortest child to reach something on the board - is it fair for the tallest student to use a stepladder to get to it?
Attentional and processing issues
ADHD
Inattention
Hyperactivity
Impulsivity
Persistent across activities and settings.
More common in boys - at present 2:1 male/female ratio.
Symptoms get worse when behaviour expectations exist but are vague like "play nicely," "do your work" but better when there are specific instructions like "sit in this spot and do not touch anyone."
Medication is a common treatment for ADHD in NZ but medications do have side effects. Stimulant medication has no effect on academic performance.
There are other treatments people try such as psychotherapy, kinesiology etc. There is no research to say the Dore programme works.
Attentional Controls
Mental energy control
How much energy we have to pay attention. Controlled by reticular activation system and locus of ceruleus - these areas of the brain are fully developed by the age of 2.
Processing Control
How we control the information that comes into the system - what should we pay attention to and how should we deal with it? Keeps developing until about age 10. Controlled by diverse sites near receptors.
If someone can't tell what is important you need to highlight relevance. Even literally, in information, highlight the important bits.
Minimise distractions. Can use headphones with white noise.
Cardboard partition to separate off from other students when working.
Reduce amount of information presented - e.g. fold worksheets that have several parts at once.
Put say 3 maths problems on a page not 10.
Intensify experiences - eg. dramatic voice to introduce stories, how many maths problems can you do standing on one leg?
Change rewards frequently.
Production Control
Paying attention to the things we do eg. moving, thinking, motor skills.
This is controlled by the prefrontal cortex. This area of the brain has a huge burst of activity around puberty. Continual development until age 35.
Inability to anticipate the 'what ifs.' Poor previewing. Poor motor prediction e.g. running through a space between two desks that is too small for them.
No inhibition - taking a pause to consider if they should be doing/saying it.
OTM, OTM - 'on the mind, out the mouth.'
Can't inhibit their motor movements.
Struggle with time management.
Poor reinforcability - can't learn from experience.
So what do we do to help students with weak production control?
Work backwards from goals. Eg. modelling - if you want them to organise their materials, show them what organised materials look like.
Practise estimating/predicting. 'What do you think would happen if you ran across the road without looking?'
Monitoring by other people.
Stop/think/act system - on cards
Utilise external controls - e.g. tick list
Structure with tight constraints.
Need to know rules and consequences.
Help with time management - don't give them an assignment that's due in a week - break it down - this is what you have to do on Monday etc.
If you want them to read something, get them to read down to a paperclip (or post it sticky note) on the page. If they understand what they have read, get them to take paperclip off.
What else could produce attention difficulties?
Eating difficulties
Not getting enough nutrition.
Excessive food intake, particularly rich and fatty foods.
Imbalanced intake
Food reactions and allergies.
Sleep disorders
Insufficient sleep
Sleep Apnoea
Chemical effects
Lead poisoning
Chemical poisoning - herbicides and pesticides
Drug effects - antenatal and postnatal
Foetal alcohol syndrome
Perseveration (won't leave a task)
Impulsive, socially inappropriate behaviour
Poor impulse control
Moody, roller coaster emotions
Talkativeness, parroting other people's speech patterns.
Expressive language better than receptive
Fine motor skills affected more than gross motor skills
Difficulty with abstract comments - e.g. 'Play fair.'
To help children with foetal alcohol syndrome:
Keep instructions concrete - not abstract things like 'get down to work.'
Keep things consistent.
Repeat
Simplify
Increase supervision
Medication for symptoms
Family dysfunction
Screen time - affects higher level functioning
For children under 3 there is no amount of screen time that will not affect the brain.
3-5 20 up to mins per day.
5-10 under an hour a day.
10-16 under 2 hours a day.
Aptitude and processing problems
Students will not pay attention if they are under or over challenged.
Processing difficulties
Can only be in one modality - for example visual, auditory, kinasthetic
Some have difficulty with one of the modalities individually but when they're combined they can't cope.
General strategies for processing difficulties
Use what they are good at to compensate for their difficulty. Eg. they can dictate their stories at times. If they can't, for example, write, let them learn a different way. Still practise writing but let them do their learning another way.
Isolate weak modality
(E.g. when reading, block off everything else). Practise the weaker modality by itself.
Blend modalities (e.g. reading with a metronome in the background).
Reception
Detection - can you see or hear it?
Symmetry - is it the same on both sides? Put their good eye/ear towards the teacher.
Discrimination (can you tell it from something else - eg. b, d, p, q confusion). Not seeing spaces between words.
Auditory discrimination - can you tell the difference between 'p' and 'b.'
Strategies for helping with reception
Correct or compensate - eg. getting glasses, a reader, telling them the information.
Perception
Salience - what is important?
Figure/ground relations - spatial perception
Comprehension - do you know the meaning?
Combination of experience and memory
Strategies
Provide background experience
Enhance memory function
Fluidity - can you proceed in a timely fashion?
Strategies - give them more time to complete the same amount of time.
Give them less work to do in the same amount of time.
Delays in processing
Strategies: Use a buddy to help them follow directions.
Give warning about questions that are going to be asked "In one minute I am going to be asking you who is the prime minister of New Zealand."
Response Production/Motoric
Gross motor - coordination posture, spatial processing
Fine motor - small muscle control
Graphomotor - writing skill
Oromotor - speaking skill
Strategies: Practice - the single element needs to be practised perfectly - even if it's just a vertical line.
Compensation with strengths
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Aspergers no longer exists in the current DSM.
- Deficits in social communication - eg. how to initiate conversations, how to respond in conversations.
- Poor eye contact
- Body language not coordinated with body language.
- Trouble dealing with change.
- Limited, fixated interests.
- Over or under reactive to sensory input
These to the point where they affect your functioning.
4:1 Male:female ratio
Strategies for helping with language difficulties:
Use literal language.
Visual reminders with 'no' symbol for things that you don't want them to touch etc.
Visual timetable.
Transitions (e.g. school holidays) clearly signalled.
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