My tips for distractibility
We all get distracted at times, and as adults, we have probably constructed habits and routines to help us with this. Children need to be taught ways of focusing, and neurodivergent children may need extra support with this. I was asked recently by a parent for strategies she could suggest to the school to support her son. Here are my suggestions.
Regular movement breaks. A good time for this would be after the whole class teaching and before independent work. If he is allowed a movement break then, he could talk with the TA or another child about his understanding of the learning and what his task is. Any misconceptions can be dealt with during those few minutes and then he will be ready to work as soon as he returns to the classroom.
Pre-teaching before the lesson. pre-teaching allows him to have hooks to hang his new learning onto. If he is able to make clear links between the new learning and his prior knowledge or experience, he will be more able to engage. It's like when our ears prick up when we hear a familiar tune. I used to have my TA do this during assembly times etc.
Access to any new equipment or manipulatives before the lesson or at the start of a new topic. Children learn through play, and any child is going to want to explore new equipment or resources. Allowing a child to 'play' with the scales and measuring tape, flip through the pages of the atlases and dictionary or explore and ask questions about the science or geography resources will better enable them to focus when they meet these objects again.
Acknowledge that when a child with ADHD is listening, they may not look the same as another child when they are listening. I am guilty of having the 'whole body listening' posters on my classroom walls when I was an inexperienced teacher. The idea that we have to be looking at the speaker, and be sat perfectly still to be able to listen is outdated and inaccurate. In fact, for an ADHD child, concentrating on trying to keep eye contact or not fidget will actually make it more difficult to hear and understand what is being said to them. Imagine having an itch that you can't scratch. This is what it is like for a child with ADHD when they are expected to sit and be still and quiet.
Allow silent and incognito fidget aids.
Keep track of which times of the day are most difficult for him to pay attention. Is he hungry, tired, thirsty? Does he need to use the bathroom? Many neurodivergent children have difficulties with interoception. That is they find it difficult to identify the signals their body may give them about internal processes like hunger. This can cause an external distraction.
Consider other sensory processing difficulties. Many neurodivergent children have other sensory processing difficulties. The light may be too bright, the room is too warm, it is too quiet or too noisy, the smell of food from the lunch hall. All of these things are experienced in a different, often more intense way by neurodivergent children and can affect their ability to learn.
Overall, it is as much about the environment as it is about the child, and of course, lots of these things would help other children in the class also.
