Concentration
Concentration may be impaired due to a number of reasons including:
- an inability to screen out unnecessary sound and visual stimuli.
- a problem maintaining position due to discomfort, poor core stability, increased or decreased tactile sensation.
- difficulty knowing what they need to do due to lack of understanding or retention of instructions.
- poor self- esteem – thinking that they will not be able to complete the task / worrying about how others might perceive them.
- pain affecting concentration and performance. A child or young person experiencing pain, muscle spasms, or general aches due to weak muscles will struggle to concentrate.
- fatigue due to the effort required to perform a simple task being many times greater than for their peers.
- broken night’s sleep due to pain, discomfort, using night splints etc. can be debilitating and lead to tiredness and lack of concentration.
Activities to improve concentration
- Short sessions of concentrated effort are preferable to prolonged tasks.
- Make sure the child or young person knows there is an end to the task and use a timer if needed.
- Build in extra time for the child or young person to complete the task.
- Ensuring that the child or young person is calm and ready for work will help eliminate reasons to be distracted.
- Reduce the amount of work given required and verbal instruction given.
- Make the last verbal instruction a key action instruction.
- Provide personal targets for everyone.
- Break long tasks into stages, with other activities of a more practical nature in between.
- Set targets that are achievable over short periods of time e.g. 1 week.
- Encourage the child or young person to sit close to the teacher and maintain frequent eye contact
- The teacher, child or young person should not sit near the door or passageway through the class
- Hearing difficulties may give rise to poor attention, and it is worth investigating this if a child or young person experiences regular loss of concentration.
- Give definite goals. Place a dot on a page and say you will return when he/she has reached the dot or ask the child or young person to complete a given number of questions. Ensure the goals set are manageable and rewarded if achieved.
- Gradually increase the amount of work to be done.
- Use 5 minute egg timer / agree a time on the clock to help the child or young person to complete task.
- Reward charts can prove useful.
- For some children or young people they may need a rest or even to sleep during the school day. Reduce stimulation for a short while, to help reduce fatigue.
- Conserving energy can be a way of dealing with the fatigue. E.g. if a child or young person has PE after break, it might be better for break time to be spent quietly and with little activity so that they are not exhausted for the rest of the day.
Organisation
Children and young people with physical difficulties may have problems with their organisational skills for a number of reasons including having issues with:
- Memory, not remembering where classroom equipment is kept.
- Planning, sequencing and time management so:
- Not having the right equipment.
- Not knowing what lessons they have next / during that day so not bringing the right equipment into school
- Not being able to predict what equipment to use when given a task.
- Not knowing how to complete a task.
- Getting lost on the way to the next lesson.
- Being late for lessons, so compounding the issue by missing instructions.
- Transporting equipment around the school that they might need.
- Dependence on an adult to do the planning and arranging for them.
Activities to improve organisation
- Check with the child or young person they have understood the instructions that have been given.
- Break the task into smaller chunks.
- Voice to text dictation using a phone or other device can be useful so that a child or young person can view the information at a later date.
- Practise taking notes.
- Use pictorial cue cards e.g. things to have on the table at the start of the lesson.
- Give children and young people their own copies of hand-outs to support verbal information.
- Provide key vocabulary sheets especially for new curriculum terms.
- Provide a pictorial timetable to encourage understanding of the school day.
- Young people may prefer to use a phone or other device to take photos of timetables.
- Identify what is needed for a particular day or lesson to avoid the child or young person carrying everything in their bags all of the time. This only adds to fatigue and discomfort.
- Consider allocating a locker so that the child or young person can choose to leave some of their possessions rather than carry them round all of the time. Colour coding a timetable will help to decide what they will need for that morning / afternoon.
- Encourage use of a journal / planner / device to record activities, homework etc.
- Work with home to encourage the child or young person to pack their bags the night before and remember everything they need to bring to school each day.
- Encourage the child or young person to be independent. Even if they are not physically capable of fetching equipment, they should be aware of what is required to complete a task.
- Maximise table top space, should be tidy with necessary equipment accessible. Child or young person may need to be seated near a socket, if they use technology.
- Raise awareness of time so that the child or young person can act accordingly e.g. there is 10 minutes until the end of the lesson, or half an hour until lunchtime.
- Devise reminders to check the time at regular intervals to make sure they can get everything done in e.g. exams / practical lessons or for homework.
- Establish a ‘buddy system’ to help with moving around the school and timetable.
- Appoint someone to oversee the child or young person’s arrival at school making sure they get to tutorial / first lesson safely, calmly and on time.
- Make sure they are aware of any changes in routine – e.g. moving classrooms due to exams.