Most people can pay attention better and longer when they are doing something they enjoy. And most people have a hard time paying attention to something that is long and boring. But most of us can force ourselves to pay attention to those things in which we are not all that interested when we know it is important to do so.
Those with ADD, however, cannot easily “force” themselves to pay attention at all; they lack the ability to activate and sustain their attention at will. The child’s neurologically-based difficulty with persistence causes others to erroneously conclude that he is lazy or does not care.
What is most frustrating for my mother is that I do not respond to consequences, positive or negative, in the same way as other children. My behavior is not easily controlled by reward or punishment. To help me to stay motivated on any given task, my mother realized that she needed to break down any learning into steps that were as small as necessary.
As I resisted tasks I thoroughly dislike, particularly homework requiring reading and writing, my mother started to use a picture of a flower to prompt me to the next task. To begin the use of the flower, my mother told me a story of a race between a hare and a tortoise. I got such a clear image of the story that I drew it out. After I got the image of the story clearly in my head, whenever I see the flower chart, I am reminded of how hare got distracted during the race and end up the loser. The story is a reminder for me to concentrate and move on to the next task until I reach the flower which is the end goal of the race.
 Home behavior chart |
 A race |
For any given homework assignment, my mother would remind me to tick off by coloring a leaf each time I finished a question until I complete a given assignment. As my concentration improved, I progress to coloring the next leaf whenever I completed half a page of worksheet assignment. Gradually, I was able to sustain my attention on task for up to a page at a time, coloring a leaf only after I complete a page. By developing my concentration in such small steps, I could eventually keep my focus on completing a set of test paper by the end of Primary 1. With my ability to concentrate on desk work, my mother stopped the use of the chart.
My mother prepared a mental map of steps for daily major activities such as brushing teeth, bathing and getting ready for school. Other important routine activities include steps for homework and steps for learning spelling. For every map, my mother would suggest that I draw a picture that would helped me to remember the steps better.
 Steps for Homework |
 Steps for learning spelling |
After creating the map, my mother would remind me to complete the steps on a daily basis for up to two weeks. With a mental picture of the steps inside my head, I gradually could complete these activities independently.
The use of a visual schedule, starting from the Individual Learning sessions, helps me to focus my attention for the duration of any learning session during the first two years of my primary school.
By the third year in primary school, my mother got me to plan my own schedule after school hours. Once my mother was sure that I could set out my own plan, the use of the visual schedule was discontinued.
 My own schedule |