Helping a distracted five year old focus, possible ADHD traits?

[OhNoEskimo]

I have a 5 year old boy that is very easily distracted and lacks focus on certain tasks.

I recently had a parents evening and the teacher said that there could be potentially some neuro-diversity, specifically ADHD, but as he is so young it can’t yet be diagnosed. She said in her experience boys do tend to have less focus than girls at my son’s age and it could be something he grows out of, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

I do agree that he lacks focus at some things and is very easily distracted.

He can play with Lego for hours but when doing his reading in the evening we struggle to get through the book, despite him reading at Year 1 level (he’s in reception). He also rushes alot of the more academic tasks like writing and has to be reminded to slow down. Outside of school I’ve noticed when he does swimming lessons, he is constantly looking around and not paying attention to his instructor. When he’s trying to swim he will be so busy looking at me or someone else he ends up sinking and standing up. He has also hated puzzles, doesn’t have the patience for them. Everything is done at 100 miles a hour, the word slowly does not compute. 😆

I was hoping to get some suggestions from other mumsnetters about ways I can help to improve his focus. I am worried about the jump from reception to year 1 and I know he will struggle massively to sit still and listen all day. I don’t want him to be seen as the ‘naughty child’ until he is old enough to be tested (if he doesn’t grow out of it), so I want to give him the best chance to succeed by trying to help him now.

Suggestions from parents with and without children with ADHD would be appreciated. I’m open to trying anything.

have you spoken to school about what strategies they can put in place to support his needs? id suggest asking if he could be sat near the front of the class because there's less chance of being distracted by whats going on in the room. he will need regular movement breaks and would probably benefit from having some fidget toys and a wobble cushion. Its not uncommon for a child with ADHD to miss a lot of what is said in lessons so if they can help with breaking tasks into smaller more manageable chunks then that would be really helpful too.

Two of my children have an ADHD diagnosis and they are more likely to want to do something if they're interested in something. is it the school books that youre trying to get him engaged with? my kids found these mindnumbingly boring. have you tried reading other books together, or tried taking it in turns to read a page each?

Swimming lessons are a huge challenge, so much noise and so much going on, would he benefit from finding a smaller class or 1-1? my son could never cope with lessons and we actually ended up just taking him swimming more often and he pretty much taught himself,

Thanks for you reply.

I have to say, I haven’t spoken to the school in depth at this stage. His teacher is leaving tomorrow so it was a last parents evening before she went, but I am planning on speaking to whoever is taking over. My son has told me he met his new teacher today, so as soon as they are back at school I will ask for a meeting.

She said he didn’t struggle when they are all sat on the mat at the front listening to her, and he loves phonics so he has great concentration at that. It seems to be when they need to do tasks like drawing a picture and writing about it, that he struggles with. They have moved him to a table closer to the front and have sat him in amongst children who write a bit slower than the table he was on before. That’s all I know so far.

I will definitely give the fidget toys a try, thank you!

And yes, it it the school books…they are awful aren’t they!! He chooses his book every week but after the first couple of pages he is sliding all over the sofa and fidgeting. He will happily read his own books. I will also try taking it in turns to read a page each and see if that helps. He was really enjoying it until he went up a couple of reading levels and the books seem to go on forever now. He is always asking how many pages are left.

I have actually enquired about 1:1 lessons in our area. One only does it during the school holidays but I’m waiting to hear back about others. I do think it’s too much for him. We took him swimming in the Feb half term by ourselves and he was swimming on his own. Went to the lesson a few days later and it’s like he completely forgot what he was doing. Haven’t made any progress in swimming since September which is frustrating and I do think he does try, he just can’t focus on the instructions.

I'd anticipate that the way they deliver the phonics is done in a fun and engaging way that makes it easier for him to stay engaged with that and makes it more enjoyable.
My son struggles with written work as well, it requires so much concentration and it's not something that he enjoys either which means the motivation is alot less likely to be there! My daughter used to use a talking tin which is like a little recording device. It records short messages that she used to record her ideas so she could remember what she was going to write if she got distracted and it did help alot.
Definatley be on it with the new teacher and ensure referals are done the second he's old enough as waits can be long.

If you have Facebook you will find this guy helpful
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To be honest-he sounds like a 5 year old to me.