Welcome back, dear readers to the ADHD Chronicles. In our previous article you were introduced to Busy Buzz and the struggles of hyperactivity. Today, we meet Distracto, the day-dreaming buddy who loves to scatter Anya and Aaron’s focus. This habit of Distracto’s makes life full of challenges and surprises for the children.
Distracto: The Distractor:
Distracto represents the lack of attention and loss of focus in children. Distracto is like a playful breeze that blows Anya and Aaron’s thoughts from one idea to another. At one moment he brings to their notice every sound, movement and idea their environment can create. He does this especially when the children are supposed to be concentrating.
In class when Aaron has been asked to write a story for English, Distracto keeps pointing out the bird outside the window. He makes Aaron notice the clocking of the pen across the room and then suddenly reminds him that he forgot to bring his favourite snack for break. Before he realises it, his English notebook is filled with scribbles and doodles and his classwork is not finished.
Meanwhile, Anya is distracted with rearranging her colour pencils onto different interesting patterns. “Isn’t this fun?”, Distracto whispers in her ear. He takes her away into a magical world of fairies and pixies and she has completely forgotten to focus on her math sums.
The Positives of Distraco:
Distracto gives Anya and Aaron many wonderful gifts which sets them apart from many of their friends:
1. Creativity: Anya and Aaron have extremely vivid and fast-paced imaginations. Distracto shows Anya many fantastic stories and pictures in her mind to paint and write. Aaron can create brilliant games with interesting strategies and tactics to solve challenges.
2. Curiosity: Anya and Aaron are always full of questions of the world around them. Anya sees all the wonderful colours and patterns around her changing and transforming when the light hits them differently. Aaron and Distracto can think of every question under the sun to ask everybody Aaron meets in the day.
3. Quick Thinking: Whether it is a new challenge in class or a strange new situation with friends, Anya and Aaron can think on their feet and adapt quickly, no matter the situation.
The Challenges of Distracto:
Although Distracto can make life colourful and fascinating for the children, he gets carried away and creates some difficulties for them too:
1. Incomplete Tasks: Whenever Aaron has to do a task, Distracto suddenly reminds him of something more exciting to do. Aaron leaves the task as it is and gets lost in his thoughts of other fun things to do.
2. Missed Instructions: When Distracto and Anya are deep in conversation, she cannot notice anything anyone else is saying to her. Even when mother tells her an instruction 3 times over, Anya doesn’t hear her.
3. Frustration: Constantly forgetting important things like homework, meals and toilet breaks due to distraction can be frustrating and upsetting for the children.
4. Overstimulation: Distracto makes Anya and Aaron notice every sound, feeling, sight and smell all at the same time! This can be too much for the children, making them tired and overstimulated quickly.
Strategies to Work with Distracto:
Managing Distracto means helping the children gain control over when he may play with them. When the children need to concentrate, complete tasks, follow and remember instructions, they must know how to chase Distracto away. When they need their curiosity, creativity and quick thinking, they invite him back again. Here is how Anya and Aaron’s parents do this:
1. Break Tasks into Smaller Steps: Break one big task into small steps so the children get a break to rest their minds and recollect their focus. This will help them to see the task to the end.
2. Create a Focus Space: Select one place, in a quiet and private area of the house to be a “work space” for the children. Remove anything Distracto can use to break the children’s focus such as toys, phones, screens and mess. This space is only for the children to study and focus.
3. Use Visual and Audio Cues: Use tools such as schedules and times which the children can use to keep track of their work time and activities. Soft background music or white noise can help them to block out distractions.
4. Mindfulness and Focus Exercises: Simple breathing exercises and meditation at the start of every day and before homework time, can help the children train their minds to keep focus.
5. Scheduled Breaks: When the children know when and how many breaks they will get, it helps them push a little harder to focus while they have to.
6. Positive Reinforcement: Every time Anya and Aaron are able to complete their tasks without Distracto getting control, their parents and teachers give them a small reward to motivate them to keep going.
Diet and Distracto:
Some foods can make Anya and Aaron less able to control Distracto. When they avoid these foods, it makes Distracto quieter and they have more control.
Foods to Avoid: Sugary snacks, artificial flavours and colours can make Distract very noisy.
Foods to Include: Foods containing whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and rich with Omega-3 give Anya and Aaron sharper, more focused minds.
Coming Up Next!
Keeping up with strategies we have mentioned will help your children guide their attention back to what matters most. When they have their schedules breaks, they can play with Distracto as much as they like.
In our next Article, we shall meet the Forgetful Fairy. Join us next week to understand her tricky spells and learn our strategies to stay on top of things.
If you think your child is also facing struggles with distraction and inattention, share your experiences or leave your questions in the comments below.