Inattentive child: causes and how to cope

Every parent dreams of their child studying well, attending various clubs, always being energetic and managing to do all the planned things. But, unfortunately, it often happens that children become inattentive.

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Causes child neglect

Before taking the first steps to improve your child's attentiveness, you should understand what causes this problem:

1. Attention deficit from adults or hyperactivity - children with hyperactivity are more active than their peers. They cannot sit in one place for a long time and therefore are often distracted by various external factors. To solve this problem (and it is usually detected in kindergarten), parents must be patient. In raising a child, you will need to rely on the advice of psychologists, teachers and doctors.
2. Frequent illnesses that develop into chronic forms – children with poor health often have difficulties with school performance. Their attention is often reduced due to a weak body.
3. Special nervous system - children with a labile nervous system are more attentive and stable. But with an inert or weak system, the child will be sluggish.
4. Severe fatigue under high loads – modern schoolchildren have too many responsibilities, which leads to overload. Of course, this greatly affects his performance and attentiveness.
5. Poor motivation – even a small child will pay more attention to the activity that he likes more. When children perform uninteresting tasks, their attention drops.

Risk factors

Inattention and absent-mindedness occur in many children, but some of them are more susceptible to this problem. This character trait is strongly influenced by stress, poor ecology, depression, poor nutrition, insufficient attention, improper daily schedule, fatigue. This is why parents need to try to create living conditions for their children that are close to ideal.

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Symptoms child neglect

How exactly does inattention manifest itself in a child?

1. He does all his work, especially school assignments, quickly and too superficially.
2. Makes a lot of mistakes in his work.
3. He doesn't pay enough attention.
4. The child gets tired too quickly even from a small amount of work.
5. The child does the work very slowly.
6. High level of dreaminess.

The child is absent-minded and inattentive

An absent-minded and inattentive child is not a diagnosis. And this is what all parents should remember first of all. Voluntary attention can be trained even at an early age. Today, you can buy a wide variety of dynamic toys in stores that are designed to improve attention in children under one year old.

If attention disorder developed in a child over time, for example, when he went to kindergarten or school, you can try to eliminate the main causes of inattention. Teachers recommend giving children a separate place in the house where they will always prepare for lessons. It is necessary that it is well organized.

Do not forget that children need to eat properly, because the lack of omega fatty acids leads to decreased attention. Today, there is no need to force a child to eat fish oil or fish. The modern pharmaceutical market offers many different supplements that are rich in these fats. They support the mental and physical health of the baby.

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The child is inattentive in class

A child's success at school depends heavily on his attentiveness. As a rule, children become absent-minded if their parents do not take part in their upbringing. That is why you should try to develop your child's attentiveness from the first grades of school. First of all, psychologists recommend finding out what exactly teachers and parents are hiding behind the concept of "inattention". You should also pay attention to how exactly absent-mindedness manifests itself in your child.

It happens that children are inattentive only in a particular lesson, then most likely he does not like this subject or the teacher does not explain the material very clearly. If the child is absent-minded not only at school but also at home, this may mean that something is bothering him.

Parents can help their child improve attentiveness with simple psychological methods and special games. Also, do not forget that for attentiveness it is very important to follow a certain daily routine. Remember that the child will be less absent-minded if homework, games and time for oneself are carried out according to a pre-written plan.

If the child is slow and inattentive

Slow children are characterized by low lability of the nervous processes that determine how quickly a child will do a particular task. Adults can change the pace of their activity if necessary, but even they do not do this immediately. It is extremely difficult for children to do this.

Unfortunately, most psychologists are of the opinion that slowness in a child with low mobility of nervous processes will never pass. Since it is their individual feature. Of course, over time, the child will be able to perform all actions faster than before, but will always lag behind his peers.

In order for slow children not to lose attention during any tasks, especially school ones, they should never be forced to work faster. It is necessary to create ideal conditions in which the child will feel comfortable. Psychologists say that if you knock such a person off track, it will be very difficult for him to regain his attention.

The child is inhibited and inattentive

Already in infancy, you can determine whether your child is inhibited or not. Such children suckle their mother's breast sluggishly and reluctantly, sleep a lot and fall asleep quite quickly. But if at a young age this does not frighten parents, then in elementary school it begins to worry quite a lot. This is explained by the fact that an inhibited child is often inattentive, which negatively affects his work.

As soon as you notice that your child is excessively inert, you need to immediately begin to encourage him to be more active. First of all, psychologists recommend not to do the following things:

1. Don't force your child to do homework immediately after he gets home. He needs to take a break for at least two hours.
2. Written assignments should not be forced to be redone frequently, even if he did not do them neatly the first time. This may lead to the child developing a negative attitude towards learning.
3. Don't leave your child alone when he is doing homework.
4. Don't force your child to play active team games. He will slow down the whole team, and this will lead to negative consequences for both sides.
5. Don't punish your child if he does things too slowly.

The child is restless and inattentive

Restlessness and inattention are most often explained by the fact that the child is simply not ready for school yet due to the peculiarities of his physical and mental development. Some children are bored in elementary school because they have already learned this material at home. Others, on the contrary, cannot understand the task, so their attentiveness suffers greatly.

Most often, such children are given a special diagnosis: hyperactivity and attention deficit. To treat this condition, psychologists recommend using specially developed methods, thanks to which the child's behavior is corrected. These methods also include psychotherapy. The child adapts faster and will be able to change his way of thinking.

Sometimes drug treatment is also used, but it is important to understand that any medication in this case should be prescribed by a specialist.

Complications and consequences

First of all, inattention has a negative impact on grades at school and the overall development of the child. Such children lag behind their peers in many ways. Several negative grades immediately discourage the child from correcting them, especially if he fails. In the future, this can cause stress and mental disorders. Teenagers often fall into depression and begin to behave inappropriately.

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Diagnostics child neglect

In such a case, diagnostics should be carried out by the following doctors: child psychologist, child psychiatrist, child neurologist. Inattention is diagnosed if the child has its main symptoms for six months. A variety of methods are used for diagnostics: conversations, interviews, direct observation, information from parents and teachers, questionnaires, neuropsychological tests.

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Forecast

Inattention can be successfully eliminated if the recommended methods are used correctly and in a timely manner. Most often, after talking with the child, creating a suitable place for him to solve homework, choosing the right methods for getting rid of inattention and lessons with a tutor, the child's absent-mindedness goes away.

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