Squirrel…or rather, Bunny
Did the Easter bunny hop by your house this morning? All this Easter talk today made me think about two of my boys who had difficulty with “hopping” issues when they were younger. Our fourth son had difficulty paying attention. He’d regularly “hop” from one thought to a completely different one without skipping a beat. Our second child struggled when he had to remaining still. With his proclivity for activity, he physically “hopped” all over the place.
When working with children who have these challenges, remember that the external world has a big impact on internal behaviors. The more chaotic, loud, or unstructured the environment, the harder it is for them to self-regulate behaviors. So slow down, model a calm state – and since auditory information often gets lost in a sea of never-ending words – say what you need to say in the fewest words possible.
Given the fast-paced world we live in, very few individuals slow down to focus on any one thing for long periods of time. We change activities as quickly as scroll through the screens on our phone. This means issues of inattention and hyperactivity are probably going to continue to plague our kids for years to come. The good news is that these behaviors do often settling out with time. Trust me; I have two boys as living proof.
Hoppy Easter, friends.