Concentration issues. What can I do to help?

[MrsTedMosby]

I have got DS's school report. He's year 1 and just turned 6. His teacher says he is a lovely boy. But he struggles with concentration, he finds it hard to sit still and is always fidgeting on the carpet, and is in a world of his own a lot of the time.

He's got 1c for reading and writing and 1b for Maths, he's good at mental maths. It's hard for him to get things on paper, his writing isn't very good, still quite big and messy. His reading has come on, especially in the last term.

We do have problems with his fidgeting and concentration at home, he can not sit still for long to do anything, even watching TV involves him rolling around on the floor and then he wanders off. He can just about concentrate long enough to read his ORT books from school, even eating dinner finds him either jiggling about or staring into space. I won't even go into getting dressed - it takes a very long time!

I am worried about him going into year 2, and being expected to work on his own more, he currently needs a lot of direction from the teacher or TA to get him to do stuff.

I have asked if they think there's a problem that he should see the SENCO about, but they don't seem too bothered.

I'm wondering whether I should push them more to look into it, and if there's anything I can do over the holidays to help his concentration. We will be doing reading, going to the library, I'll be helping him do handwriting practice etc.

I am not sure but is there a sport he could try over the holidays which he might really enjoy whilst being very active and perhaps learning something like that might help him extend his concentration span?

I suggest posting this in the special needs children thread where there are lots of knowledgable and supportive mums.

I also suggest you look at the criteria related to dyspraxia, Aspergers / high functioning ASD and if you don't mind a slightly more alternative view then look at retained reflexes as this offers a clear solution, though not enough blind studies to back anything up. Have a look and see if you think what you read reminds you of your DS. Perhaps include auditory processing too, although you tend to see more problems in noisy environments so less problems at home unless it's noisy there too. Oh and perhaps have a chat with DS to find out what he thinks the problem is i.e. does he have ants in his pants (sensory issues), feel overwhelmed by noise & need to shut down (auditory and / or ASD), have a very active imagination so that he'd rather be doing that that focussing on the real world).

Keep in mind, however, that more summer born DCs are diagnosed with problems than spring, winter and autumn DCs, and that's simply due to age inappropriate comparisons being made (recent studies have demonstrated this unequivocally). It's a hard balance to strike as early intervention is invaluable but equally some children just need more time to hit their stride.

He sounds very like a boy that dd sits with at school. His parents had to push for him to be considered for some support by the schools Senco..one of the very successful strategies put in place is to give him a soft,squashy ball that he can squeeze during lessons. According to dd it took him a week or so to get used to but it helped stop him fidgeting and this hasn't just helped him it has helped the dc's around him who were distracted by him prior to the Senco becoming involved. It is just one small thing but it has made such a difference.

Fidget toys to help him concentrate. Even a little bit of blu tac.

You have described my son exactly. Every single word rang true. Also 6, in Y1. Will get his report tonight... We have seen a paed who said possibly some ADD tendencies but not dreadful enough to warrant further exploration at this stage, and to come back in future if things got worse. I asked for meeting with SENCO and we have come up with an IEP with targets for DS2. Things like letter formation, sitting properly at carpet time, sustaining concentration to complete an (achievable, short-term) task etc. I think Ds is quite able but I doubt school see much evidence of that since he is always in a world of his own. I just want him to fulfil his potential. I know Y1 is hard for lots of boys and they often mature and find their way in Y2. It happened for boys in DS1's class during Y2 and I am crossing fingers things will come together for DS2 too. Hang in there. Also, does your boy LOVE computers? DS 2 would play on an ipad for hours if I let him, despite not being able to concentrate on anything at school..

One thing to check out is retained reflexes; that could explain lots of the stuff you are describing. As mentioned by tiredbutnotweary.

Check out the INPP website ... www.inpp.org.uk/
They explain a lot of the stuff there, and offer a programme of exercise therapy that could help. Another good website is this one
www.davidmulhall.co.uk

In terms of the ants-in-the pants stuff ... our DD could not sit still for years. Her school even had a special high desk for her and let her stand while she did her work. She found it hard to concentrate, was quite anxious, and was really strugglingto learn to read. One of her teachers mentioned the possibility of retained reflexes (she called it neuro-developmental delays). We got this checked out, first by an INPP practitioner who works with our school, and then we went to someone else who does the brushing therapy (not David Mulhall, but similar). Both identified a raft of retained reflexes, esp moro, ATNR and spinal galant. The spinal galant is the one where if you draw a finger light down their spine, near the bottom, they twitch. It is important in babies because it makes them start crawling, but if it doesn't then integrate, you get kids who twitch all the time.

Well we did some exercises, and then we moved to the brushing therapist, who gave us brushing to do. And her spinal galant has gone, and she can sit still. She sits at the dinner table instead of standing. We have been doing all kinds of other brushing too, for the moro and the other reflexes. They are all going slowly, and her concentration, focus, levels of anxiety, ability to sleep, etc have all improved hugely. As have her co-ordination, and ability to deal with things being different from what she expects.

She does still like to fidget with bits of blue tac when we are reading stories :-) , but this is so much better than sliding round the sofa; and picking the skin off her fingers and her toes.

Tiredbutnotweary, that comment about the summer-born kids is amazing! Thank you! My dd is a June girl, and she is the 2nd youngest in class. Of course that makes sense!!!

Make sure he gets enough exercise before and after school - maybe you can have a trampoline at home or get up early couple of times a week to take him swimming before school (what my mum used to do?). Don't forget by human nature children this age are supposed to climb trees and run around and sit still, so please don't assume it's a disability.

Also check his diet, cutting out all sugar, flavourings and also gluten and focuusing on fruits, vegetables and proteins works wonders. But most important is to cut out all sweets, sugar, fizzy drinks as they cause concentration issues.

Pina, you are welcome!

I'm very interested to read about your experiences of DDs response to the retained reflex's therapy. TBH I'm toying with taking the plunge for DD2, who has them all (going by the literature). My only reservation is whether it's all a big scam that relies on simply waiting for enough time to pass before they grow out of them naturally ... how long has your DD been doing the various therapies, is it expensive and how quickly did you see progress?

I really do wish they would adjust scores for age in school, at least for KS1. I think it would also help flag up children who really do need help asap (if they are autumn DCs but struggling too) as well as being so much more reassuring for parents of summer DCs.

The squeezy ball sounds like a good idea too - thanks for this thread OP!

Thank you. I had a word with his teacher today and she said she has given him something to fiddle with at carpet time which has helped a bit. She said it is hard as she will be helping him and as soon as her attention is elsewhere he just drifts into a daydrea, and obviously she has, and his new teacher will have, 29 other children in the class.

She has spoken to the SENCO so I think I will talk to her and give them a push towards looking more seriously into things, dyspraxia being my main concern. We do have ASD and Dyspraxia in the family.

He gets plenty of exercise, we walk 1.5 miles to school, and then home again, and he then goes in the garden and bounces on the trampoline or runs around. Our diet is pretty good, we cook from scratch mostly and don't often buy sweets or fizzy drinks (he's not keen on fizz anyway)

biscuitsneeded He's not even that interested in the computer! He'll have a go for a bit and then go wandering off, nothing keeps his attention for long, he hardly every plays with toys.

I will read up about the retained reflexes, it's not something I've heard of before.

It is hard, maybe he just needs to mature a bit, being summer born, but then I don't want it to be something else and leave him floundering.

Dear OP

You could have been describing my DS in infant school. Every report said the same thing about his concentration. When he went into Year 3 at Junior School this last year, the teacher actually did something about it. She got a TA to do various exercises with him each week, and she gave me some to do with him as well at home.

They were things like giving him a plain piece of paper and coloured crayons, and he then had to listen to the instructions I gave him before drawing a picture. (EG, draw a blue cat, 2 red flowers and a pink butterfly. Once he's done that, give him instructions involving 2-3 other things to do). Another exercise was a series of numbered kites drawn in plain pencil. I had to give instructions like eg draw number 2 kite in blue with 3 red ribbons on it.

By Feb this year, she said his concentration in class was no longer an issue. I'd also been giving him Omega 3 fish oils.

I can see you've moved things along a bit now, but hopefully the exercises described above won't do him any harm either.