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luvmybaby28
member
long attention span and transitions/asd
luvmybaby28
member
my son has a very long attention span, as I understand can be common with autism.
The thing is, I think this is why he has a huge issue with transitions, because he wants to engage in the activity longer. So far, he always plays appropriately and well with toys, but for long periods of time. My quesiton is, I guess I look at his attention span as a good thing, but with the quick transitions at his group, he is not able to fully dedicate himself to the task.
He has a long attention span with everything, not just certain things (not hours, but likes to color, play with blocks, cars, puzzles, take things out of cabinets and organize, etc for 20 minutes at a time). I just worry that a place with lots of transitions is not a good fit, always second guessing choices I am making for him. He does really well at the childrens museum where he can choose what he wants to do and for how long. I understand that school will have transitions too, so confused.
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Re: long attention span and transitions/asd
You say that a place with lots of transitions is not a "good fit". What do you think is going to happen when he gets to school? How do you think kids learn if they are so hyperfocused on one single activity?
As much as it's tough for a parent to take a child out of their comfort zone, it has to be done. It's easier to change a child's behavior before 2 vs at 5.
There's no one right answer. All the things you mention are good- and can be bad. It's confusing, I agree. At DS' SN preschool he has tons of transitions. Too many, by any standard. They are a facility that purports to minimize transitions for kids, but yet because of their size, he actually transitions all the time. E.g. he has an early morning classroom for 60 minutes, then therapy for 60 minutes, then 40 min. bus ride to public school, public school for 2 hours, 40 min bus ride back, then his "main" classroom, then his "after hours" classroom for the last hour of the day. This is more transitions than I had as a 3rd grader. At first I was really upset about all these transitions. But it really started growing on me once I noticed how well DS adapted to it. Kids have to be flexible, typical or not. In kindy I doubt there are many activities that they do for very long periods of time. I can't remember if it was on here or another website where I was reading that one measurement of a kids' success in school is how long they can delay gratification when very young. So allowing a kid to do something they really enjoy for a long period isn't as good as "first we have to do this desk work for 10 minutes, and THEN you can play with your toy for 10 minutes."
Take my ramblings with a grain of salt, I'm certainly no expert. This is just what I see from my son- his teachers report that his attention span is average for a typical kid- not great, not bad. But they report that he transitions beautifully, even amongst individual activities in a classroom. As he has gotten older I have really used it to my advantage- I am now finally (FINALLY) able to take him to the mall and say "if you can be quiet and walk with me in Macy's for 10 minutes then we'll go to the elevators." It seems to be part of the maturation process.