Attention: From Confusion to Control

1. Attention: From Confusion to Control The Role of Attention in a Neuro-developmental Model of Assessment and Interventions

2. Agenda • Housekeeping • Introduction of Rudolf Stockling • Presentation • Discussion

3. Introduction of Rudolf Stockling EDUCATION / MEMBERSHIP • MSc (Psych) Wollongong • Member Australian Psychological Society (APS) • Registered Psychologist NSW Australia EXPERIENCE • Secondary Teacher (4 Years) • Educational Psychologist (12 Years) • Psychologist in Private Practice (8 Years) • Director of Assessment Lexicon Reading Centre Dubai (at present), www.lexiconreadingcenter.org

4. The Neuro-developmental Model of Learning

5. Attention Control Systems • MENTAL ENERGY • PROCESSING • PRODUCTION

6. MENTAL ENERGY • Alertness • Sleep and arousal balance • Mental effort • Performance consistency

7. A. Alertness • Regulates the flow of energy • Prevents mental fatigue Look Out for: At home: • Difficulty finishing homework • Can’t sit still on car trips, at the table, etc. In school: • Yawns • Fidgets • Contorts the body

8. B. Sleep and arousal balance • Brain’s ability to promote sleep • Regulates appropriate alertness during day Look Out for: At home: • Resists going to bed • Cannot fall asleep at a regular time; • Hard time getting up in the morning In school: • Does not really wake up until late morning; • Yawns, • Stretches • Tired during class

9. C. Mental effort • Supplies the energy required for a student to start, work on, and complete a task Look Out for: At home: • Requires heavy prodding to do homework or study for tests; have to “light a fire” under him to do chores In school: • Late starting work • Puts off tasks that are particularly hard or unappealing

10. D. Performance consistency • Ensures a steady, reliable flow of energy from moment to moment and day to day Look Out for: At home: • Energy level and interest in tasks are unpredictable In school: • Inconsistent School work quality and amount

11. Strategies: Mental Energy • Praise attention efforts. • Encourage physical activity. • Give advance notice. • Break up studying time into chunks. • Recommend a bedtime routine. • Provide breaks with physical activity

12. Strategies: Mental Energy cont. • Help to get started on homework. • Identify high mental effort periods. • Monitor performance inconsistencies. • Use a dry-erase board to organize homework time.

13. PROCESSING CONTROLS • Saliency determination • Depth and detail of processing • Cognitive activation • Focal maintenance • Satisfaction level

14. A. Saliency determination • Selects important information for use and puts unimportant information aside Look Out for: At home • When given a list of chores, cannot distinguish which are more important than others • may have a hard time making a decision when presented with many options In school • Distracted by sights, sounds, or events happening close- by; • Takes detailed notes, without prioritizing

15. B. Depth and detail of processing • Controls how deeply students concentrate on details in order to capture the information Look Out for: At home: • Has to be told directions or information several times before it “sinks in” In school: • Misses critical details, like operational signs in math or punctuation in writing

16. C. Cognitive activation • Triggers prior knowledge and experience learning new information Look Out for: At home: • Unengaged and disconnected (cognitive underactivation) or • Bounce around seemingly random topics (overactivation) In school: • Disengaged from classroom discussions or • Disrupts discussion with irrelevant ideas

17. D. Focal maintenance • Allows a student to focus for the right amount of time on important information Look Out for: At home • Jumps from activity to activity without finishing; • may overuse the TV remote In school • Stops focusing in the middle of an activity; • Is not prepared when class begins a new subject

18. E. Satisfaction level • Controls how deeply students concentrate on details in order to capture the information Look Out for: At home • Only concentrates on things of interest • Exhibits an extreme hunger for material possessions (the “latest” thing) In school • Disrupts other students when bored; • does not focus in class unless interested in the topic

19. Strategies: Processing • Teach scanning or skimming techniques • Draw focus to important information. • Provide a clear ruler to help your child keep her place while reading. • Use sub vocalization. • Connect new information to prior knowledge.

20. Strategies: Processing cont. • Make new information relevant. • Encourage eye contact and repetition. • Teach your child to prioritize. • Teach and model internal standards. • Use internal dialogue, or self-talk, • Reflect on successes. • Cue children to upcoming transitions .

21. PRODUCTION CONTROLS • Previewing • Facilitation and inhibition • Pacing • Self-monitoring • Reinforceability

22. A. Previewing • Consider more than one action or response • Anticipate the outcome of a choice Look Out for: At home: • Trouble thinking through the possible consequences of her actions, even when prompted by parents In school: • Does not use outlines to plan a paper or project • Difficulty estimating answers to math problems • Difficulty in predicting events in or endings to stories

23. B. Facilitation and inhibition • Exercise restraint and not act immediately • Consider various options • Choose best response or strategy in a situation Look Out for: At home • Does the first thing that comes to mind without considering possibilities; • can’t resist temptation (e.g. sneaking treats before meal) In school: • Blurts out responses in class discussion • Says whatever is on his mind

24. C. Pacing • Adjusts the rate to complete a task; • Enables production at appropriate rate Look Out for: At home • Rushes through homework • Trouble allotting enough time In school • Does poorly on timed tests • Still completing assignments when others are done • Finishes tasks far too quickly resulting in errors

25. D. Self-monitoring • Allows to evaluate continuous performance • Allows to evaluate completion a task Look Out for: At home: • Does not check his work, • Leaving chores unfinished or poorly done In school: • Trouble editing his own work; • Doesn’t “get it“ when behaviour is bothering others

26. E. Reinforceability • Helps to respond or act on prior experience Look Out for: At home • Gets into trouble over the same problem despite past interventions or consequences In school • Keeps making the same mistakes despite tutoring or re-teaching • Insensitive to punishment and reward

27. Strategies: Production • Engage in “what if” exercises in various academic, behavioural, and social situations. • Build in planning time • Model planning techniques for your child by ‘thinking aloud’ while performing a task. • Use stepwise approaches.

28. Strategies: Production cont. • Stress the importance of organization. • Encourage self-grading. • Provide consistent feedback. • Create a visual reminder to “hold that thought.” • Discuss the lesson or assignment.

29. Strategies: Basics • General Tips • Home, School and Clinic Collaboration • Involving Children

30. Strategies: General Tips • Decide which strategies to try • Limit yourself to 1-3 strategies to try first. • If the first few strategies not improve the child's skills, try others. • Adapt strategies for use with your child’s age groups

31. Home, School and Clinic Collaboration • Share observations about your child's strengths and weaknesses • Discuss where the breakdown is occurring • Share information on issues in other areas • Attention issues often masks other learning issues

32. Home, School and Clinic Collaboration, contd • Identify your child's strengths and interests • Discuss possible strategies • Acknowledge your emotional reactions • Discuss appropriate next steps

33. Involving Children • Attention skills are important to succeed with school work, control behaviour and relate well to others. • Some children give up and see themselves as failures • Others exhibit behaviour problems related to attention.

34. Involving Children, contd What to do: • Open non-judgemental discussion of learning profile • Explain that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. • Create a shared sense of optimism • Explain that learning problems can be managed • Work toward a common realistic goal

35. Resources:Professional Organizations • American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: http://www.aacap.org Information and Pamphlets • American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org Information for parents of children from birth through age 21. • American Psychological Association:http://www.apa.org The professional organization of psychologists in the USA

36. Resources: Websites • All Kinds of Minds: http://www.allkindsofminds.org Provides resources to help parents, educators, and clinicians • Learning Disabilities Association of America: http://ldaamerica.org Provides information on understanding learning disabilities • National Center for Learning Disabilities: http://www.ncld.org Information about learning, early literacy and learning resources • LD Online http://www.ldonline.org Learning Disabilities and ADHD Information • CHADD http://www.chadd.org Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

37. References • Brown, Thomas E. Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults.: Yale University Press 2005 • Levine, Melvin D. All Kinds of Minds. Cambridge, Mass.: Educators Publishing Service, 1997. • Website: www.allkindsofminds.org • Website:www.DrThomasEBrown.com

38. Thanks