A very important tip to boost attention span

Research shows that in this age of technology, our attention spans are shrinking.

But attention is important. Without attention, there is less communication, or connection. Without attention, there is less learning.

So what is a parent to do? What can make children attend, and really take in, their environments, for natural and positive growth?

One of the best possible interventions is training your child to look at his target.

The eyes are the key to the mind. This is why eye gaze is integral to many social skills programs.

Think about it : you know whether or not your child is paying attention by looking at their eyes. Are they droopy and unfocused? Or bright and alert? Are they on the book? Or are they on a toy?

Parents can work on “attentive eyes” at any age. For toddlers, a parent can direct a child’s eye gaze by taking a toy and putting in the child’s field of vision. Once the child looks at the toy, the parent can bring the toy to the parent’s eye level.

For older children, it is better to increase awareness of the role of our eyes in conversation.

“Hey Sarah, I know you’re not listening. I know you’re not listening because your eyes are not looking at me.”

Or, you can try a more playful approach.

For example, “Are we doing homework on the TV? Is that why we’re looking at the TV?” Or “Are you talking to that table? Hi, table!”

Try it during your next assignment or routine. Work, and then when your child’s attention wanders, use one of the cues used in this article. Catch the wandering as soon as it happens.

Continue to redirect for the entirety of the task.

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Redirecting your child’s gaze during structured activities will be hard work at first. But with practice, “attention with eyes” may very well become a habit that you no longer need to train.

Happy talking!

Disclaimer : Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy / speech-language pathology practice for toddlers and children providing in-home and teletherapy services in and around Mountain View, CA and Los Gatos, CA. Smarter Speech Blog aims to provide free speech and language tips for parents educators and therapists. However, this post is not providing speech-language pathology services. This is general information, not speech -language pathology or speech therapy. This article does not assume or create a client – SLP relationship. The author is not liable for any losses or damages due to actions or failure to act based on the content in this article. If you need assistance with a child’s speech or language needs, please contact a speech-language pathologist in your area.