Attentional Control: Long-Term Strategies & Supports for Diverse Learners

“You can do it; you just need to focus.”

“Just pay attention to what’s happening.”

“It’s not that hard. You’re getting distracted.”

Ever feel like you’re always playing the role of “concentration coach” for your teen or young adult with unique learning needs? We all have times where it feels challenging to focus–especially during a global pandemic, distance learning, and managing our tech-driven lives. But for teens and young adults who struggle with attentional control, the challenge can place a strain on parents, teachers, and caregivers as well. Knowing how to support these students with long-term strategies that improve focus and concentration can make a big difference in helping you stop playing concentration coach and see your teen succeed.

What is attentional control?

Attentional control is an executive functioning skill relating to focusing on specific things in the environment while ignoring others. Attentional control works closely with other skills like working memory (using what we know to make decisions), emotional control (regulating our emotional behavior), and cognitive flexibility (shifting focus between different stimuli in the environment).

Attentional Control in Diverse Learners

While the scope of attentional control looks different for every learner, some common characteristics crop up in diverse learners with diagnoses like Autism, ADHD, or Anxiety. Therefore, it can be helpful to understand how your student may be struggling with attentional control to customize long term-strategies and supports.

Attentional Control and ADHD

When we think of attentional control challenges in diverse learners, we often think of ADHD. The diagnostic criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) include three types, predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive/impulsive, and combined type. Characteristics of all three of these categories can influence attentional control for learners with ADHD. Learners with ADHD may struggle with directing attention for long periods or to specific tasks. They may also struggle with impulsive or overactive behaviors that interrupt or interfere with paying attention.

Attentional Control and Autism

Although attention-related issues are not necessarily in the diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), many of the students and learners we work with lack skills for sustained focus and concentration. ASD and ADHD have high rates of comorbidity and can be challenging to differentiate. As with all characteristics of spectrum disorders, attentional control has a broad range of skills. Some children may struggle with hyper-focused attention on specific things, while others may struggle with inattention and distractibility.

Attentional Control and Anxiety

Although we don’t yet understand all the ways that anxiety and anxiety disorders impact attentional control, studies suggest there’s a strong link. Individuals with anxiety can have difficulty sustaining focus because they are already hyper-focused, worried, or fearful of other things. Inattention, lack of concentration, and distractibility are some of the psychological and cognitive impacts of anxiety and anxiety disorders.

6 Strategies to Help Learners Who Struggle with Attentional Control

Even though your learner may struggle with attentional control, there are still tools and long-term strategies to help. By building these supports into daily routines, parents and teachers can help ease some of the stress, frustration, and challenging behavior related to concentration.

1. Take frequent breaks

It may seem counterintuitive that taking a break from intense concentration can increase our ability to pay attention. However, for diverse learners who may have difficulty focusing for long periods, it can be helpful to build in more frequent breaks. Breaks should be short–no more than 3-5 minutes–but long enough to give attentional control a rest.

2. Plan physical activity during breaks

Along with taking frequent breaks, it’s helpful if those ‘brain breaks’ include some form of physical activity. For example, we tend to shift from concentrating on a task, to focus on our smartphone news feed or emails. Yet, these tasks also require focus and concentration, so it’s not restful for your learner’s brain.

Instead, encourage your learner to get up and moving around during breaks. Research supports that moderate to intense physical activity can increase our concentration and focus. In addition, even brief periods of physical activity can be beneficial for diverse learners.

Need ideas for breaks? To help your learner create a plan for breaks, try our “Break Box Exercise.” Download our .pdf guide to helping your learner choose the best brain break from working.

3. Break large tasks into smaller parts

When we reviewed executive functioning skills like planning and organization, one strategy to help learners succeed with long-duration tasks is to break them into smaller parts. The same strategy can be helpful for learners who struggle with attentional control. Choose smaller tasks that fit your learner’s typical attention span. Then gradually increase the length of time as your learner gains success.

4. Test out times for peak attention

Does your learner focus better right away in the morning? Does your student need to start with some easy tasks and build momentum for longer sustained attention? Is it more challenging for your child to focus when they are tired, hungry, or after a long day of school/work? For learners who are likely to need long-term supports to sustain attention, it’s critical to examine and understand the times when attentional skills are at their peak. Choose these times for the most challenging tasks and save things requiring less concentration when focusing wains.

5. Practice focus in a designated location

Sometimes we can train our brains into focusing better just by practicing attention in the same location. Have your learner use a designated place for tasks that require sustained attention (e.g., quiet reading in the “reading corner,” homework station, or workbench). Not only can you reduce the number of distractions in that particular environment, but your learner’s brain will identify this location as an environment for focused attention over time.

6. Use visual timers

Sometimes helping a learner best focus in their time is just about assisting them in understanding time in general. Some evidence supports learners who struggle with focused attention also struggle with understanding the concepts of time and time management. Try using a visual timer for a learner, including a countdown or time remaining marker. Using a visual timer that indicates the total time needed to complete a task and how much time is remaining, learners can better conceptualize time passing.

Remember to Celebrate Your Learner’s Accomplishments

Finally, be sure to celebrate progress as it happens. Good goal-setting practices involve recognizing milestones with just as much excitement and enthusiasm as you might celebrate your learner’s long-term goals. For parents and educators working with diverse learners, building attentional control can be more of “a marathon, not a sprint” activity. Celebrating your learner’s accomplishments along the way can make the journey just as enjoyable as achieving an end goal.

Further Reading

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD
• Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) -Tips for Educators Video Training Series
• Houghton College – Breaks and Attention Spans
• UC Santa Cruz – Counseling and Psychological Services – What is Anxiety?
• William and Mary University- Classroom Interventions for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder