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Inattention problems Help Please!!

Bird

Hello,

Could someone in the Comunity have any ideas or suffer for inattention please.  My son is 15 years, he was diagnosed with Autism. He attends a main stream school in Cheshire. He suffers with  inattention problems. He visited the Cahms - Mental Health service and was seeing by a psicologist. This lady suggested a few things, like makin a timetable, use an alarm to remind him the time, etc. But nothing is helping at the moment. His inattention is affecting our daily lifes more and more to the extends that sometimes goes to bed very late like 01:00 in the morning. Because takes too long to do things like get ready his bag for school - can take 30 minutes or more, can take 30 minutes to brush his teeth. To do homework he could take hours and this will make him go to bed very late. Please let me know if you could give some advice. Also because of this issue, he tend to feel depress and he's feeling very lonely. He feels very few people is suffering and feeling the way he feels now.

Many thanks in advance.

  • Hi Bird,

    This sounds familiar! Following on from what longman suggested, I wonder if your son also has ADHD? ADHD is often comorbid with asd, and can show itself in the way you describe here. Contrary to popular belief ADHD is not just hyperactivity but can be: attention problems (too much/not enough), hyperactivity, or a combination of both. So if your boy is struggling to complete tasks in a timely manner because he's not focusing, this could indicate ADHD even without hyperactivity. 

    My son has almost the opposite problem in that he has the ADHD diagnosis but we are struggling to get an asd diagnosis, which is very frustrating. 

    Ways you might help him focus could be a timer set by him (he decides how long the activity should take, and sets the timer for that), him keeping lists of what needs doing when, regular breaks from tasks (in boys, physical activity is helpful here, so 30 mins homework then 10 min exercise, repeat), music to increase focus, ear plugs to block out noise, incentives for completing tasks, and also 'fiddle toys' (brilliant things, allow the person to concentrate because inattention comes out in fiddling as they work, in a pinch even fiddling with a paperclip can work, or chewing gum believe it or not, I get my students to do this!). Also, perhaps with school work he could spend as much time standing as possible - I know that sounds bizarre, but studies have shown that even in Neurotypical boys they learn and focus better standing, so if you could facilitate that it would be great - some of my students pace while thinking through their work, it helps. My son does it too. 

    As for isolation, is he in any clubs? I think it's really important to work on emotional resilience, as in work on his confidence so that he can overcome the feeling of being different, and manage negativity that comes with it. Easier said than done, I struggle with this with my son too. Joining a club or developing an interest that allows bonding with others could help with this.  

    Kat.x

  • With the homework I might be tempted to find out from the school how long they expect him to be spending on it and actually limit it to that rather than insisting he finishes it.  E.g. 30 minutes of maths, set a timer and supervise him to do 30 minutes (ensuring he didn't have access to other things like tv, facebook etc.) then send it in with a note in his planner (or exercise book or whatever they use) stating that that is what he achieved in the allotted time.  Spending hours grinding away on work that was supposed to be a short exercise isn't likely to be very productive for anyone long term and at the least it might prompt some discussion with the school about strategies you could all use to help him work more effectively.

  • You seem to have posted in a low activity period on the forum - I would have expected another parent to have responded by now.

    It is important to check that there are no underlying factors; I am surprised the Mental Health Service were so dismissive - treating it as just autism, when there could be medical reasons.

    Taking a long time to do things might have autism related causes but could be other things.

    However there are things you could do meantime to explore remedial possibilities. You say he is 15 in a mainstream school. Is he being bullied? That may not manifest as conventional bullying - children on the spectrum endure a lot of ribbing on account of being different, or being wound up to get a laugh out of their unusual reactions. This will be out of sight of teachers.

    So it could be part way to school refusal, where there is a lot playing on his mind, to the extent that it stops him getting on with tasks. If these delays are particularly pre-departure for school - something happening at school is likely.

    Being very focussed on special interests could just prevent him concentrating on matters in hand.

    Some people on the spectrum need prompting to start even routine activities.

    It is something to look into. Is there a parents group or local NAS group in your area? These can be found using the little poink maps on the home and community pages of the NAS website,. Even if there isn't one near you, the nearest might be able to direct you to something NAS doesn't know about that is closer.

    Failing that ask the NAS helpline.