Tips for Difficulty with Attention & Distractions
- Make use of non-verbal signals to cue student before transitions, or to stop all activity and focus on the teacher.
- Assign students Task Buddies to help keep partner on task.
- Seat students near the center of instruction.
- Seat distractible students surrounded by well-focused students.
- Use physical proximity to help cue student to return to task.
- Allow quiet fidget toys, doodling, or mandalas to help improve student focus. Fidget toys can include craft rings threaded with beads for calming.
- If students doodle, ask them to create doodles in the margins that illustrate their notes, enhancing visual recall. Later, ask them the paraphrase the meaning of their doodles.
- Clearly define expectations.
- Vary tone of voice when presenting to students. (If you can pull off a dramatic flair, it works well.)
- Provide study carrels or partitions to reduce visual distractions during seatwork or test taking as appropriate. (This should be a student choice, not a punishment.)
- Provide sound-reducing headsets for students to minimize auditory distractions.
- Silence the “pen tapper” with the sponge from a curler.
- When possible, engage students in unstructured, creative challenges.
- Color or highlight directions and important words on the assignment.
- During silent reading, consider allowing students to sit on the floor if they ask. Some students become amazingly focused when they carve out their own space on the floor or in a corner in the classroom.
- Allow students to ask buddies for clarification on seatwork.
- Significantly increase opportunities for active student involvement in the lesson and utilize questioning techniques that engage all students.
- Consider allowing ADHD students to “tutor” other students in areas of strength. This often brings out focused, caring behavior and encourages self-esteem.
Interventions for Auditory Processing Difficulties
Follow the suggestions for ADD/ADHD. Students with auditory processing difficulties often exhibit the same or similar behaviors as students with ADHD. A speech therapist whose expertise was Central Auditory Processing Disorder (she had CAPD) shared that many students diagnosed with ADHD were actually CAPD, but rarely tested for it. Some vision difficulties also mimic ADHD.
- Supplement verbal presentation with visuals, color, graphics, and demonstrations.
- Allow time for processing information – Slow down.
- Increase amount of eye contact with students.
- Follow the ten-second rule before calling on students to respond to a question.
- Provide directions in written as well as verbal forms.
- If spelling is an issue, allow a spell checker or text editor to complete writing assignments.
- Keep background noise in the classroom to a minimum when lecturing or presenting information to the whole class. Students with CAPD cannot process what they hear when there is background noise. If possible, get a Sound Screen.
- Monitor frequently for student understanding.
- Write major points or content outline on the board.
- Offer many choices that involve creative expression.
- Provide an outline or overview of the lesson.
- Relate information to students’ experience and background information.
- Summarize key points and let students know what is important for them to remember.ads
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