Headphones

My husband and I had a conference with my son’s teachers today.   Without even discussing it in advance we all knew what the topic would be: my son’s inability to focus.    His occupational therapist has said she doesn’t think he’s doing it intentionally, he’s doing the best he can.

We’re very fortunate to have my son’s teachers.   They both expressed their concerns, which we share and echo, as we’re seeing the same behavior at home.   If he’s doing a preferred activity, he has an ability to focus for long periods of time, but on things he’s not excited about—or sometimes even if he is interested in the subject, he just can’t seem to maintain any level of concentration.

It’s affecting his ability to complete work and keep up with the remainder of the class.   What I was impressed with with his teachers is they want to find out what they can do to best help him be successful.   They genuinely care about his progress and his emotional state as he faces the challenge of his daily classroom routine and work.  

Constant redirection tells him results in a negative self-image, which we’re seeing in him both at school and home.   So the question is: how can we facilitate him so that he can be successful in a positive way?  

One thing we’re going to try is sending him in with his father’s noise-cancelling headphones tomorrow.   He loves wearing his headphones at home, even when he’s not using them.   With the noise-cancelling feature he may be less distracted (one of his biggest problems to staying focused).

I’m going to have a conversation with his occupational therapist tomorrow to see if she has any other suggestions.   His teachers have said her work with him has been beneficial.   We agree and are seeing changes as a result at home.   We’ll find out in the coming weeks if the headphones help him concentrate.

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Combination Session:  Tomorrow we’re bringing my daughter to my son’s occupational therapist appointment.   His therapist is more of a, “life coach” as she calls herself, helping my son understand himself and what’s happening in his brain.   She helps by giving him clearly defined explanations of things in a way he can understand.   My son writes or draws up the work they do at each session and takes it home for us to put on the refrigerator so he can refer to them.   One thing that’s come up is the sibling rivalry between with his sister so tomorrow we’re bringing him to his session so Liz can meet Reese and see them interact.    We may bring them in together in the future if she thinks it will help him, her or both of them.