ADHD and improving focus
People with ADHD are fidgeters. It turns out according to Julie Schweitzer, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and head of the UC Davis ADHD Program, fidgeting is a huge benefit to an ADHD person by boosting their cognitive performance.
According to the study, Person with ADHD can better focus on complex and difficult tasks for example by preoccupying their other senses. For example, when focusing on a book, restlessly fidgeting with their ring or bracelet helps them absorb the information better. More complex the task more intense the movement is needed to help them focus.
In an analysis of 26 teens and pre-teens diagnosed with ADHD and a control group of 18 normal kids putting them through intensity and frequency of movement to see how it affected their focus, it was found that ADHD kids with the highest number of correct answers had the most intense movements. For kids without ADHD, there was no correlation.
Study results
The results of the study basically illustrated that ADHD kids are unable to adjust their arousal system properly and the fidgeting movements help them compensate. Basically demanding or boring situations trigger these movements.
Encouraging kids with ADHD to chew gum, or keeping parts of their body busy could be a good tool to help kids focus. Perhaps, some of the kids who are disruptive in class iare trying to focus but that is their way of compensating.
It gives an entirely new perspective on those kids we grew up with you just couldn’t stay away from the Principal’s office.
This helpful video below on how fidgeting can be improved upon using fidget toys. Worked for me. I have a squishy cow and a stress toy that I use on a daily basis when I am trying to think. Looks like our body knows what to do to get us there.
I have a squishy cow and a stress toy that I use on a daily basis when I am trying to think. Looks like our body knows what to do to get us there.
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[…] Interested in how fidgeting helps those of us with abundance of energy? Check out this article of ADHD and Improving Focus. […]