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Education & Dyslexia Specialists

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Hands On Learning Solutions: Education & Dyslexia Specialists
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Attention Problems

"Homework is going GREAT - no more complaining, let alone whining or crying! "
RZ - dad of 9 yr old
"Amelia has been actually finishing projects that she starts."
CB - mom of 10 yr old
"I have seem improvements in Katie's organization, completion of homework, attention span, and setting goals for herself."
EH - mother of 18 yr old
Hands on Learning Solutions

As a parent, you are aware when your child is struggling, but those struggles might also be mistaken for ADD/ADHD, laziness or just plain behavior problems.

Is it ADHD?

Unfortunately, there has been a growing trend to use the ADD/ADHD diagnosis when a student is having trouble in school. Although some children may have chemical imbalances that can be considered ADD/ADHD, this label tends to be assigned too easily. In most cases, difficulties in attention and energy are actually symptoms of other learning challenges and not the cause.

An attention problem should be suspected if:

  • ✔ Your child has poor study or work habits
  • ✔ You child fidgets or squirms excessively
  • ✔ You child constantly interrupts in class or in conversations
  • ✔ Your child is careless
  • ✔ Your child often loses things
  • ✔ Your child takes too long to finish assignments
  • ✔ Your child is forgetful
  • ✔ Your child has trouble with organization or priorities
  • ✔ Your child fails to hand in homework or classroom
  • ✔ Your child interrupts often
  • ✔ Your child gets distracted by noise or movement
  • ✔ Your child has difficulty waiting for his/her turn
  • ✔ Your child constantly has to be moving

It is important for you as a parent to realize your child is probably not doing these things on purpose. Kids who show these signs do not yet have the ability to tell the difference between paying attention and losing attention.

It’s not their fault!

These symptoms occur when a child has weak underlying processing skills and cannot intentionally control attention. They are not being lazy or silly. Actually most of the students we work with say that if they could pay attention, they would. They so badly want to be successful in class, and try very hard, but paying attention is such a difficult task when they do not have the proper tools. Learning challenges that can co-exist or may cause ADD/ADHD type symptoms include Central Auditory Processing Disorder, Dyslexia, primary reflexes, weak processing skills, and Language Disorders. These challenges occur more frequently in children who are considered ADD/ADHD. These students also have a decrease in success with academic skills like reading, spelling, and math. The truth is, the learning disabilities and processing skills deficits that are the root causes of attention problems can often be remediated.

What can be done?

Attention deficits can be addressed in several different ways depending on contributing factors.  Inside-out approaches, which are approaches that deal with food sensitivity, primary reflexes, or auditory processing, and outside-in approaches, that work with dyslexia, weak processing skills, and attention training.

What is attention training?

Attention deficits can be improved by directly exercising specific aspects of attention. This includes having students work on tasks with increasingly greater attention demands. Repeated activation and stimulation of the brain systems responsible for attention can improve cognitive capacity as well as neuronal activity. Our attention training system will address all four types of attention: sustained, selective, alternating, and divided.

The Learning Skills Pyramid is the foundation of successful remediation. If you focus on just parts of the problem, therapy will not always bring about the desired results. You’ll be left with missing pieces in your program. And that’s where HOLS comes in. In order to identify the contributing factors, a Functional Academic and Learning Skills Evaluation must be administered to determine the source of the missing pieces. Only then can a comprehensive program be designed that will address your child’s weaknesses in developmental order.

Program, activity, and symptom descriptions are for educational/informational purposes only. Any recommendations given are not to be considered diagnosis, medical, or psychological prescriptions. Every parent needs to assume the responsibility for their own child and make their own decisions as to the techniques and methodologies that will best fit their child's needs.

"Homework is going GREAT - no more complaining, let alone whining or crying! "
RZ - dad of 9 yr old
"Amelia has been actually finishing projects that she starts."
CB - mom of 10 yr old
"I have seem improvements in Katie's organization, completion of homework, attention span, and setting goals for herself."
EH - mother of 18 yr old
Hands on Learning Solutions

Get Started

For a free consultation, please give our office a call at (253) 857-8188. You can also contact us via email. We are available between 10am and 5pm Monday through Friday, and some Saturdays.

Get Started ▶

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3206 50th St. Ct.
Suite 107
Gig Harbor, WA 98335
(253) 857-8188
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