I have a special needs son....what can I do to me sure he gets all the assitance he needs?

Question

My 6 year old son has PDD (which is borderline autistic) and mild retardation. What can I do to keep him focused? He has a hard time concentrating for more than a minute at a time. What are some good strategies?

Answer 1

It is possible that he also has attention difficulties as well.  Most disabled students have complex difficulties and the pervasive developmental disorder is no exception.  You may want to have his evaluated to rule out Attention Deficit Disorder, a disorder that has a biological basis--   If he does have this disorder and it goes untreated, then education his education will be negatively impacted.  It's difficult (if not impossible) to learn when you can't focus.  Strategies work minimally, but are not consistent as this disorder involves a misfiring of nurons in the brain.

Answer 2

Have you tried an ABA therapist?  Aba is a teaching method used for autistic children.  It keeps children on task and it is very fast moving.  For example my 6 year old daughter is learning colors.  The therapist will put 2 or 3 colors in front of her and ask her to choose the right color.  They will do this ten times.  After the ten times, they will give her a perfered item (a toy)  for 3 min.  She is always working for something.  ABA is very intensive and not for every child.  It is very hard at first because you must make them participate.  

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Start with tasks and games that can be completed in a minute.

Move on to things that take 2 minutes and keep stretching.

Find out what he loves and start with those.  My daughter has problems focusing too but she could play in water for hours or listen and watch music videos.

Answer 4

I'd suggest most importantly you speak with a doctor he will advise you on the best strategies, also speaking with the school is also very important.

to help him concentrate you might try and speak to a doctor about ADD medication.

Answer 5

First of all you have to be patient. Find things that he likes and use them to help him learn. For instance if he likes elmo, get elmo counting cards, elmo reading books, use elmo cookies and have him count them. Use things with bright colors, things that make noise. It will be hard but you can do it :-)