Attention getting 'caught' on something

[Thatballwasin]

My DD told me she was the only one in her class (of 30) who hadn't finished her school work today. Her teacher last year also said she could be slow to finish. She seems to cope with the work ok, I think she's in one of the higher maths groups, but she told me today her eyes get 'stuck' on something in the room and she finds it very hard to stop staring at it. She said this happens every and had last year as well. This was her explanation for not finishing the work. She's seven.

Any advice as to how I can help her? I know kids daydreaming and the like is hardly surprising but if it's holding her up in class it sounds a bit more intrusive. She described it as annoying.

My first (and scary) thought was absence seizures....which is almost certainly NOT what it is...but in your position with what she said about her eyes being "stuck" I would see the GP. Absence seizures are surprisingly common in children and I think many grow out of them.

It's probably simply that she's tired/young and hasn't yet got the concentration to continue on and on....my own DD at the same age was pulled up for being slow by her teacher....she's 9 now and MUCH better. She always completes her work.

Does she eat and sleep well?

Oh gosh, I used to get this loads! It wasn't anything to do with a seizure, it was just that I'm easily distracted and I focus on random things other than the thing I'm meant to focus on. Sometimes this can manifest as me looking at a random point while my mind wanders off somewhere totally different.

I am still a master at procrastination - I meant to go to bed at 9pm tonight and look at me still posting!

Maybe try some exercises to help her focus? Mindfulness meditation helps me (where you concentrate on all your senses to remind yourself that you're here and not in some other place - so listen to background sounds, feel your clothes, smell the "school" smell, etc) or a much quicker one my mum taught me (when I was an adult, unfortunately, I wish I'd had it when younger) - you must uncross your legs and then imagine roots coming out of your feet and into the ground, even if your feet are not touching the ground or you're upstairs, that's ok, it's just about having the connection to the earth. Helps bring you back into yourself and remember what you are supposed to be doing. It sounds a bit woo, but it's harmless and it can help.

Thanks, that's a big help. I'm a massive procrastinator too and that's part of what was bothering me. I have wondered whether I have a form of ADD (though less so after reading more about it, there are traits which apparently are always present which I definitely don't have) but my mum has also referred to her own "tuning out". If there is something going on more than just being a kid I don't want to miss it if there is something I can help with. I think it really affects me. DH thinks I am overreacting even giving it any thought but he has no idea what it is to daydream or procrastinate, it's just an alien concept to him!

It might be worth asking the GP or getting her eyes tested just to rule out any medical cause, but definitely it sounds like normal daydreaming to me. I also find it annoying! People who don't procrastinate/daydream (my DP doesn't either) don't seem to get it but it isn't a conscious thing and it is a real pain. The grounding (tree root) thing does help if I catch myself doing it though. I used that a lot at university

I have been trying it this morning at work - though success is limited as am still managing to MN...

Does not sound like absences .... Possibly it's a sensory processing issue, affecting your dd's visual sense. She may find it difficult to filter unwanted info out - its not a conscious thing but happens automatically in the brain. Class modifications are probably key - ie sitting away from distractions, non busy environment etc. also something to squeeze to help focus her attention (one of those stress balls would do it).

Well, it's more helpful for staring into space than mumsnetting

Will try a stress ball, thank you for that. That is quite a simple thing to explain. The parent's evening is in a few weeks so I'll have a chat with her teacher then. It sounds like she bring it up anyway.