ATTENTION AS AN EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING SKILL.

 

Attention as an Executive Functioning skill

“The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way”- Keanu Reeves.

Recently I had an urgent job I needed to deliver on and seeing that I was out of time, I enlisted the help of a teenager. I gave her a list of items and asked her to quickly get them for me from a shop. She got back and I realized that she bought the wrong things.  I had to send her back to get the correct items and I had to pay again because the shop had a “No return, No Refund” policy. Here I was trying to save time by sending her in the first place. I ended up spending more time and paying extra. I was livid. While I was processing what happened and asked her, she said her mind wasn’t quite put together. The summary of it is that she wasn’t paying attention. Attention is one of the skills that make up executive functioning skills and a lot of children struggle with attention deficit.

What is Attention?

Attention refers to a person’s ability to focus or concentrate on a particular task, assignment, or person for a required length of time while disregarding other activities within the same environment. To be able to successfully carry out a task, one needs a high level of focus and concentration to be able to mentally process the input (information received) and output (feedback given). A student requires attention and concentration skills while learning, both in and out of the classroom.

There are different types of attention:

       a.       Selective attention: Paying attention to a specific task or objective to the exclusion of every other activity going on within the environment. An example of this type of attention is a child paying attention to his class teacher teaching in the classroom while blocking out the distracting noise coming from the lawn mower that the school gardener is using to mow the lawn outside.

       b.      Divided attention: Paying attention to multiple tasks or objectives at the same time e.g. a child paying attention to the note his class teacher is dictating to him while also focusing on his book as he is copying ( here he is listening and writing). Another example could be a group of children making a presentation where they have to follow the prompts from both the conductor and maybe the instrumentalist to make their various moves. Here their attention will be focused on both the conductor and the instrumentalist if they must give a good presentation.

       c.       Alternating attention: Switching attention from one activity to another simultaneously. An example of this type of attention occurs when someone is cooking and washing. He checks the food for a while and at that time the attention is on the food then he leaves the food and goes to his washing and at that time his attention is on the washing until he has to go back to the food. He keeps switching from cooking to washing.

      d.      Sustained attention: the ability to pay attention to a task for a long period. An example of this is seen in an instance when a child spends so many hours playing a computer game or even watching television.

A lot of children struggle with maintaining focus and concentration on tasks and learning. There are a couple of factors that might play a major role in the inability of a child to maintain attention and focus, some of them include:

     1.       Intrinsic factors like :

Ø  Physical health: the physical well-being of the child also plays a role in his alertness.  A physically unwell child cannot fully be attentive for a required length of time.

Ø  Emotional health: the emotional state of mind of a person can affect his/her ability to be attentive and your child is no exception to this. A deeply depressed or angry child will most likely not pay attention in class.

Ø  Closely linked to emotional health is psychological health. A child who has undergone some form of trauma like rape, abuse (verbal, emotional, and sexual), deep loss, etc. is in a state of psychological trauma and this can impair the child’s ability to concentrate and focus.

      2.       Extrinsic factors like

a.       Nutrition

b.      Sleep: scientific research has proven that lack of or inadequate sleep causes reduced ability to engage in selective attention.

c.       State of the environment: the state of the environment in which a child is in at the time will greatly impact his ability to maintain attention for a length of time. An environment with lots of activities, noise, bright lights, etc. will be distracting for a child and thus make him unable to focus well

d.      Medication: Some medicines interfere with alertness and attention.

e.      Excessive screen time could also be a culprit. Not only does screen time affect brain memory capacity, but it also affects sleep routines and consequently impacts attention capacity. For more information on screen time and how much of it is appropriate for your child click here.

 

Importance of Attention.

       1.       It enhances problem-solving skills.

       2.       It promotes academic excellence.

       3.       It enhances comprehension and promotes task completion.

       4.       It helps the child focus on what is important.

       5.       It also helps a child to follow instructions.

 

How Can I Help My Child Build attention Skills?

      1.       Ensure your kids get adequate sleep.

      2.       Nutritional diets. Foods that are rich in energy sources and those that control blood sugar are ideal for children to help their attention, concentration, and memory. It is very important to cut down on sugar-rich diets. ( For more information on foods that your child needs for brain development, memory building, and concentration click here).

      3.       Teach and guide your child on how to minimize distraction. (e.g. don’t study with the Television turned on don’t study where you have a lot of colourful pictures pasted on the wall.)

      4.       Teach them different reading skills and guide them through the one that suits them well. Examples of some of these reading patterns include reading aloud, repetition, taking time to reflect/review what has been read, taking notes, mind mapping, using highlighters, etc.

      5.       Encourage them to take breaks when they are tired.

     6.       Encourage play, exercise, and other forms of physical activities. According to a scientific report in the journal “Harvard’s Men’s Watch – May 2013 issue” regular bodily exercises stimulate the production and release of chemicals that boost memory, mental alertness, and attention/concentration.

     7.       Create a designated workspace for your kids. A workspace that is devoid of distraction. This will aid concentration.

      8.       Games like puzzles, checkers, chess, matching games, building games/projects like building blocks and structural models, Legos, spot the difference, etc.

      9.       Other activities like riddles, cooking, painting, colouring, drawing, etc.

Two popular quotes that I find very insightful as far as attention is concerned are:

   Ø  “Attention is really a currency that you exchange to get something back – Awareness, Understanding or Connection”- Susan Pearse.

   Ø  “Pay attention and you will hear what life has to say”- Rasheed Ogunlaru (Life Coach-Speaker and Author)

Reflecting on these very thoughtful quotes we can conclude that building attention skills for your children should be a paramount task. Are you willing to take it on?

 

Did you get value, please drop a comment, suggestion, or question and I will be very happy to respond.