PUPPIES! Curious? Interested? Still reading??

Fantastic! That means I’ve captured your attention, for the moment at least. Or did you choose to focus your attention on reading what I have to say? Perhaps a bit of both? We can easily take for granted the amazing capacity of our brain to pay attention to what’s important, interesting, and relevant to our survival.

Recently my thoughts have been focused on attention because I see so many clients – students and adults – who struggle with managing their attention.  Some have been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Others have not, yet struggle all the same. Below are some facts intended to clear up some common myths and misunderstandings about ADHD and attention.

• Our attention has a limited capacity. Like a spotlight, it focuses on just a fraction of all available sensory input.
• There are two tasks required of our attention – 1) to focus on one thing, and 2) to ignore all the information and stimuli competing with that thing.
• Everyone’s attention wanes over time. It’s replenished through breaks, mindfulness, rest, and sleep.
• Multitasking is incompatible with focused attention. While it may feel productive, multitasking degrades our productivity as we shift the spotlight of our attention back and forth between things with similar cognitive demands.
• ADHD is NOT a deficit in attention, but a challenge in one’s ability to self-regulate and manage their attention. Individuals with ADHD don’t lack attention, they actually have more attention than they know what to do with. It’s just harder for them to direct their attention spotlight where it may be most helpful to them in any moment.
• ADHD is a biological, brain-based, condition that runs in families.  Medication is an effective treatment for 70 to 80% of people with ADHD.
• People with ADHD often, and correctly, feel that they are misunderstood by those around them. (Read the featured book ADHD 2.0 for useful insights on this. Spoiler: it’s less about being lazy or lacking willpower, and more about their nervous systems.)
• Simple things like movement and other stimulation may increase the ability of people with ADHD to focus and sustain their attention.
• The ADHD brain hates to be bored and will go to great lengths to seek out things that are stimulating, interesting, and/or challenging.

Rather than approaching ADHD as a deficit or a disorder, it’s much more helpful (and kind) to consider it from a strengths vantage point. With every “deficit” associated with ADHD evident in some situations – like traditional school or office work – there is a “superpower” side that is beneficial in other situations that capitalize on creativity, innovation, leadership, entrepreneurship, public speaking, or persuasion. A gift we can give to students who are disliking school because it triggers many of the “deficits” associated with having inconsistent attention is to SEE them for who they are and try to UNDERSTAND their unique struggles and strengths. Below you’ll find a few resources to begin this journey of understanding. Our kids are phenomenal humans with so much to offer. Let’s make sure they hear that message and believe it!

Be well. Be safe. Be hopeful.  

“I'm afraid that you'll never understand me fully, and because of that, sometimes you'll be frightened, disgusted, annoyed, or pleased.”

― Jack Kerouac

"A prerequisite to empathy is simply paying attention to the person in pain."

– Daniel Goleman

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Below are links to recent interviews, podcasts, and articles. Find more here.

Brainy Moms Podcast - Smart But Falling Apart? What's Happening and to Help

Powerful Parenting for Today's Kids - Helping Our Students Who Might Be Disintegrating

Modern Education Movement - Cure For the Disintegrating Student