How to improve concentration, attention and memory problems in children
Learn how to improve concentration in your child to help with ADHD symptoms and school behavior. When dealing with attention problems it is important to first consider whether there may be underlying causes of concentration difficulties. By discovering these things and working to eliminate them first, the following tips will be much more effective and possibly unnecessary. These may include having a sensory disorder or suffering from yeast overgrowth. Both of these would involve treatment options that are not listed here to help improve concentration and attention. Tips on how to improve concentration, attention and memory.• Investigate whether your child may have any underlying causes of concentration difficulties. Some of these possible causes may include:- Symptoms of sensory processing disorder• When your child needs to concentrate, make sure you eliminate as many environmental distractions as possible, have your child stop what he or she is doing, television turned off, objects out of hands. • Concentration will be greater if you incorporate as many senses as you can. Use visual words or pictures, allow your child to hear the words, say the words, and if possible do an activity associated with what you want your him/her to remember. You may even use scents that are associated with what he/she is learning. For example, if learning about a specific flower, have that flower available for your child to see, touch, and smell. Then have him/her read the name of the flower from a card out loud, while looking at the flower. • To help remember the names of others, teach your child to always repeat the name back to the person when introduced and then repeat the person’s name in his or her head at least 5 times while looking at the person. • Approach your child by gently touching his or her shoulder while stating his/her name, if necessary to make sure you have his or her attention, especially when speaking to him or her. • Gain eye contact if you are speaking or gesture towards the specific object. • Give lots of praise and show excitement when your child pays attention and concentrates on a desired activity or conversation. (Ex. “I really like the way you are working on that”) • Give frequent breaks during long activities, possibly every 10-15 minutes • You may also consider, especially for children with any type of autism spectrum disorder, to utilize some discrete trial training also known as applied behavior analysis for increasing eye contact and attention. • Studies show that the chewing spearmint gum at the initial learning phase is associated with superior recall of the information learned. Also, you may be interested in my pages on homework and study tips, and/or how to improve concentration with better listening skills. Return to Behavior Intervention Plans page
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