Focus & Attention
When individuals struggle to pay attention, it can affect them in a multitude of ways: academically, socially, and emotionally. Problems with attention may not be the REAL problem, but rather the symptom of an underlying learning problem.
Learning problems stress attention skills and attention problems stress learning! When it takes more effort to do something, the brain uses more energy and it can eventually lead to exhaustion. Without that energy, it is more difficult to pay attention. Reciprocally, the brain must maintain attention in order to efficiently process information. Our Learning Skills will determine if attention is the primary problem, or if it is a symptom of a learning problem. Recommendations will be made to address the REAL problem.
Medication is one way to temporarily “control” attention, however, once the medication wears off, attention remains a challenge. Brain-training produces permanent results. 47% of our students that take a prescription drug for attention problems no longer require medication once completing our attention-training program. Even more are able to reduce their dosage (per medical doctor orders)! When you do not have to work as hard to pay attention, the available energy can be directed toward more efficient learning and comprehension.
Attention Problems
- Poor listening skills
- Inadequate sustained attention for their age level
- Easily distracted
- ADD / ADHD diagnosis
- Acts like the class clown; distracts others
- Commonly has breaks in train of thought (“What was I just saying…?”)
- Procrastinates
- Difficulty with follow-through
- Poor divided attention- unable to pay attention to two things at one time (e.g., note-taking- listening to the teacher and taking notes at the same time)
- Impulsive- acts before thinking
- Poor mental flexibility; rigid thinking
- Overly sensitive and worried (anxious)
- Difficulty shifting attention
- Learning problems
- Hyper-focuses on highly-motivating activities
- Difficulty taking another perspective
- Disorganized (work or physical space)
What Our Attention Programs Do:
Our one-to-one structured attention program is appropriate for children, adolescents, and adults. When a determines that attention is the REAL problem, and not just a symptom of a learning problem, a comprehensive, structured, drug-free, and individualized program (specific to the individual’s weaknesses) is developed.
The program is based on a theoretical model of what is currently known about cognition and brain training for attention. It provides a structure, which encourages systematic delivery of therapeutic tasks, with the ability to customize, depending upon a student’s individual needs.
Our programs are based on three major attention control systems in the brain including:
- Filtering distractions in the environment
- Filtering internal distractions (such as daydreaming)
- Being able to pay attention, including:
- Sustained attention: The ability to maintain a consistent behavioral response during continuous or repetitive activity
- Selective attention: The ability to pay attention to something, and to notice and ignore other auditory or visual distracters
- Alternating attention: The capacity for mental flexibility, which allows for moving between tasks that have different cognitive thinking requirements
- Divided attention: The ability to simultaneously respond to multiple tasks. For example, listening to a teacher while taking notes. As you are writing notes from what the teacher just said, you have to continue listening to the new information and choose what to write down in your notes
Our program identifies the individual’s external distractions and reduces the response to them. In addition, we build internal awareness (mindfulness) of those distractions. This allows the individual to identify and master whatever caused the confusion or triggered the loss of focus. It also builds internal control to choose what to focus on, so that the individual can get back on-task when he chooses to.
Specialized and intensive, attention and focus drills are part of each session in order to create new neuropathways in the frontal lobe, which is the command and control center for attention in the brain. Training attention and processing skills rely on the reorganization and training of brain systems or “muscles”. This requires the repetitive performance of retraining tasks within a target area and it forces the activation of neuropathways for attention processing.
Attention strategies are learned and practiced by role-playing difficult attention tasks for the individual, along with how to use those strategies in real-life situations. All successful students with attention issues must develop excellent skills and strong confidence. Only when they control their attention, do they truly become the success that they, and others, know is possible.
We use score sheets and graphs, so that students (and parents) can easily view and monitor their progress. This is a powerful motivational factor for our students and it is useful for facilitating improved attention and cognitive processing.
We rely on student (and parent) input to share progress noticed in the student’s everyday environments at home, school, work, and social activities. We expect to see progress EVERY SINGLE hour of our cognitive training sessions! We also expect the student and significant others to notice positive changes, and direct carryover into the student’s everyday functioning at home, in academics, socially, and in life!
The attention program is often done in conjunction with our Learn, Listen & Move Program since it addresses primitive reflexes, body control, and organization which are the foundation of higher levels of attention, focus, and executive function.
