For some reason, I paid attention to the power lines as I drove the 2 miles down North Wilmot Road to my house today. As I turned onto the road, one of the poles jumped out at me and grabbed my attention. That pole is there every day, has been for a long time, long before I ever even moved to Wilmot. But today is the day that I noticed it. I looked up and saw the power lines leave from the top of the pole, cross over the road and attach to another pole. Immediately, I noticed a pattern. The lines zigzag back and forth across the road from one pole to the next, like a half laced shoe. As I came around a curve by the Wilcox house, I could see for a pretty far stretch and, sure enough, the pattern continued all the way down North Wilmot Road to my house.
Wow! I've never paid attention to the power lines before today. Like everyone else, I take it for granted that somehow my home is supplied with electricity, phone service and cable. Well, to some degree we take it for granted. Another contributing factor here is that the lines are generally out of our view as we move through our daily lives. At about 50 feet overhead they aren't usually in our line of sight. And yet another factor is the way that our brain works. This is what I really wanted to write about!
Our brain has the wonderful ability to pay attention and to NOT pay attention, all at the same time. While we need to pay attention to our driving, the safety of our passengers, and maybe even the tune on the radio, we don't need to be distracted from these tasks. The brain allows us to filter out all sorts of stimuli that would overwhelm us otherwise. Everything from the feel of the car upholstery on our skin, to the sound the wind is making as it rushes over the Thule rack on top of the car, to the sight of the power lines zigzagging along.
Some brains don't have this ability. The brain of the autistic person does not. This brain allows everything in all at once, leaving the owner of that brain feeling constantly overwhelmed. Often, the person with autism will engage in repetitive behaviors like rocking back and forth to calm this.
As theory suggests, autism is at one end of a spectrum. And according to that theory, Asperger's and ADD are on that same spectrum. Autism of course is most extreme, Asperger's less extreme, then ADD. The severely autistic child is so grossly unable to filter out all of the stilmuli that even the feel of a mother's hug can be too much. The Asperger's child has some ability but is still overwhelmed yet able to function in a typical setting much more successfully. And the ADD child is, according to this theory, just more annoyed by certain stimuli like itchy shirt tags. Their brain does focus on more than the non-ADD brain but not to a debilitating degree.
When I was teaching 8th grade science, I kept a huge freshwater fish tank in the back of the room on a counter. One year, I has a student with Asperger's in my classroom. To date, I had never heard of Asperger's and new very little about autism. Indeed, I was still a novice on ADD. Tom was shy and quiet, had difficulty maintaining eye contact and really had to work at being in a social setting all day at school. I imagine that he went home a bit exhausted at the end of the school day. After several days of sitting at one of the tables back by the fish tank with his lab partner, Tom's aide asked me if Tom could move to another table. The sound of the water moving through the water filter and the buzz of the light bulb in the tank cover were driving him crazy. Wow! I had never even given thought to either of these sounds because my brain filters those two sounds and many others out. So did the brains of most of the other students in class. But for Tom, these noises were loud and obnoxious. I found that utterly fascinating. Why is it that the brain develops in such a way that it can't filter these various stimuli? I still don't know but I shall learn more.
The brain of the ADD person has difficulty selecting what to attend to such that it attends to too many things at once. With training and lots of practice, the ADD person can learn to attend to the essentials and leave the rest alone. Basically, he/she can learn how to prioritize. Let me give you an easy example. Not long ago, I watched a very busy boy pouring himself a cup of milk. He was distracted by another priority which was his desire to quickly get back to playing outside with his buddies. As his dad watched, he coached his son to slow down and pay attention. He reminded him that it is when he is hurrying that spills occur. And when spills occur time that could be back outside is spent cleaning up. The boy slowed down with this reminder and payed attention to the task at hand.
Now that was a simple example of a child who is not ADD. He's just a typical boy. But the strategy used is what is key. That strategy is important with the ADD child. As the parent, teacher, or other adult you work in place of the brain to help the child slow down and decide what to pay attention to. Notice that there was no screaming or criticism in this dad's coaching. It was simply a directive to re-focus the brain on the task at hand.
If you are living with someone, adult or child, who is ADD (or not!) think of some ways that you can help that person's brain to select what to attend to. Often, if you think about your strategy ahead of time, you'll be ready when it is necessary.
Wow! I've never paid attention to the power lines before today. Like everyone else, I take it for granted that somehow my home is supplied with electricity, phone service and cable. Well, to some degree we take it for granted. Another contributing factor here is that the lines are generally out of our view as we move through our daily lives. At about 50 feet overhead they aren't usually in our line of sight. And yet another factor is the way that our brain works. This is what I really wanted to write about!
Our brain has the wonderful ability to pay attention and to NOT pay attention, all at the same time. While we need to pay attention to our driving, the safety of our passengers, and maybe even the tune on the radio, we don't need to be distracted from these tasks. The brain allows us to filter out all sorts of stimuli that would overwhelm us otherwise. Everything from the feel of the car upholstery on our skin, to the sound the wind is making as it rushes over the Thule rack on top of the car, to the sight of the power lines zigzagging along.
Some brains don't have this ability. The brain of the autistic person does not. This brain allows everything in all at once, leaving the owner of that brain feeling constantly overwhelmed. Often, the person with autism will engage in repetitive behaviors like rocking back and forth to calm this.
As theory suggests, autism is at one end of a spectrum. And according to that theory, Asperger's and ADD are on that same spectrum. Autism of course is most extreme, Asperger's less extreme, then ADD. The severely autistic child is so grossly unable to filter out all of the stilmuli that even the feel of a mother's hug can be too much. The Asperger's child has some ability but is still overwhelmed yet able to function in a typical setting much more successfully. And the ADD child is, according to this theory, just more annoyed by certain stimuli like itchy shirt tags. Their brain does focus on more than the non-ADD brain but not to a debilitating degree.
When I was teaching 8th grade science, I kept a huge freshwater fish tank in the back of the room on a counter. One year, I has a student with Asperger's in my classroom. To date, I had never heard of Asperger's and new very little about autism. Indeed, I was still a novice on ADD. Tom was shy and quiet, had difficulty maintaining eye contact and really had to work at being in a social setting all day at school. I imagine that he went home a bit exhausted at the end of the school day. After several days of sitting at one of the tables back by the fish tank with his lab partner, Tom's aide asked me if Tom could move to another table. The sound of the water moving through the water filter and the buzz of the light bulb in the tank cover were driving him crazy. Wow! I had never even given thought to either of these sounds because my brain filters those two sounds and many others out. So did the brains of most of the other students in class. But for Tom, these noises were loud and obnoxious. I found that utterly fascinating. Why is it that the brain develops in such a way that it can't filter these various stimuli? I still don't know but I shall learn more.
The brain of the ADD person has difficulty selecting what to attend to such that it attends to too many things at once. With training and lots of practice, the ADD person can learn to attend to the essentials and leave the rest alone. Basically, he/she can learn how to prioritize. Let me give you an easy example. Not long ago, I watched a very busy boy pouring himself a cup of milk. He was distracted by another priority which was his desire to quickly get back to playing outside with his buddies. As his dad watched, he coached his son to slow down and pay attention. He reminded him that it is when he is hurrying that spills occur. And when spills occur time that could be back outside is spent cleaning up. The boy slowed down with this reminder and payed attention to the task at hand.
Now that was a simple example of a child who is not ADD. He's just a typical boy. But the strategy used is what is key. That strategy is important with the ADD child. As the parent, teacher, or other adult you work in place of the brain to help the child slow down and decide what to pay attention to. Notice that there was no screaming or criticism in this dad's coaching. It was simply a directive to re-focus the brain on the task at hand.
If you are living with someone, adult or child, who is ADD (or not!) think of some ways that you can help that person's brain to select what to attend to. Often, if you think about your strategy ahead of time, you'll be ready when it is necessary.
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