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Click below for further information from the Afasic charity

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     Strategies to support development of attention 

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     Strategies to support development of attention 

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Use their name and gain eye contact with your child before giving them an  instruction

Get down to the child’s level

Call their name first, gain eye contact.

Go to a quieter room. Try switching the TV, radio or other distractions off

Only introduce a few toys at once

Use gestures and objects as clues to gain attention and help your child understand.

Use short simple sentences.

Talk about what your child is playing with.

Break down instructions into smaller parts

Be repetitive.

Click below for a printout of strategies and activities to support attention and listening.

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             Why is attention Important 

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             Why is attention Important 

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Good Attention and Listening skills are needed to

Develop play skills and help them explore things for longer.

Develop early social interactions with adults and other children.

Understand words and follow instructions accurately

Develop vocabulary (words)

Develop grammar e.g. –ed for past tense, -s for plural

Develop accurate speech sounds, phonic awareness and literacy

Participate in conversations, class discussions and make friends

Develop incidental learning from the world around them

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          Why do some children have problems with                                                      attention?

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          Why do some children have problems with                                                      attention?

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Some of the possible reasons are listed below. Some children may have more than one of the possible reasons for difficulties.

Hearing loss

Generally delayed development

Tiredness

Tasks are too easy

Tasks are too hard

Adult’s language is too complicated

The adult is talking about something they are not focussed on

Too many distractions

Feels poorly

Has specifically delayed development of attention skills

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                                   Typical development of attention skills

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                                   Typical development of attention skills

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As children develop they pass through a number of different stages as their attention and listening skiis improve. These are the 6 main stages.

Stage 1: Children at this stage are very distracted, their attention is held momentarily by whatever is the dominant stimulus.

Stage 2: At this stage children can concentrate on a task of their own choice. They have to ignore all other things in order to focus on this one task. Children are very resistant to interference by an adult.

Stage 3: By now, children are beginning to allow an adult to shift them from one task to another. Attention must still be fully gained before changing focus

Stage 4: Children now start to become able to control their own focus of attention. They move gradually towards only needing to look at an adult when the directions become difficult to understand.

Stage 5: At this stage, children are usually entering school. They can now perform an activity while listening to the teacher giving directions.

Stage 6: This is a mature stage where attention skills are flexible and sustained or lengthy periods.