Some people are just squirrelly. They’re the kind of people who love to chase new ideas, think outside the box, color outside the lines, question everything, multitask, daydream, invent, and see things in new ways. Some are creative, some are hyperactive, some are highly intelligent, some are driven to accomplish, some are just downright quirky, but they’re all just a bit different somehow than most other people. That’s because most people in our society are not squirrelly. So the truth is that those of us who are can come off as pretty odd to the non-squirrelly types out there.
The above excerpt is from the book Squirrels in Deer Land by Susie Binkley. The book is a novel that celebrates those with ADHD, giftedness, and other things that make us, well, squirrelly. While this book is a celebration of the “squirrels” in a land of deer, squirrels are not always celebrated in our classrooms.
Occasionally, a teacher will encounter a student who simply cannot be motivated to do his homework, finish his worksheet or study for a test. If we continue Binkley’s metaphor, we would think of this student as a squirrel within a herd of deer. While all the other deer munch quietly on grass, this squirrel is busy running up and down trees to collect acorns. While all the deer signal to each other through flicks of their tails and ears, the squirrel uses scents to mark his territory and small squeaking noises to communicate. The problem is, when you are squirrel in deer land, no one understands what you are trying to say, even if you are begging for help.
This is where teachers and parents come in. Some children need a little motivation – they are deer, but just need to find the juiciest patch of grass. Children who need motivation can use star charts, educational rewards, and simple praise for effort. But, those children who are truly struggling will not be motivated by the regular motivation techniques that parents and teachers use. After all, that is like flicking your ear at a squirrel and expecting him to understand that there is a fresh patch of grass to your left. You are simply speaking another language. Instead, you need to get to the root of the issue. What is making learning so hard for this child? Once you figure out what makes the child “squirrelly,” you can teach him the way he can learn.
Some possibilities that are worth investigating are sensory processing disorder (SPD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD), and Executive Function Disorder. Below, I have outlined the different disorders.
Sensory Processing Disorder
There is always a lot of confusion surrounding sensory processing disorder – mainly because there are many different diagnoses that fall under the catch-all phrase sensory processing disorder (SPD). There are many different disorders that fall into SPD, among them are three specific subcategories:
Sensory Over-responsivity: In this category, children respond very strongly to minimal stimuli. They often avoid touching or being touched. They often react strongly to certain textures of clothing or food. In addition, they will get overexcited with too much to look at or with strong smells or sound.
Sensory Under-responsivity: In contrast to children who are over-responsive, children with this form of SPD often pay little or no attention to the sensory experiences around them. They are unaware of messy hands or clothes, or a dirty face. They will also fail to notice how things feel and will often drop them. When presented with new stimuli, they will ignore them – even if a food is extra spicy or a noise is particularly loud.
Sensory Seeking: Children who are sensory seeking are exactly that – always looking for new sensations. They dump toys and rummage purposelessly, chew on shirt cuffs, and rub against walls. They welcome loud noises, seek strong odors, and prefer spicy or hot foods.
While children who fall into the categories described above exhibit widely (and sometimes opposite characteristics), they are all classified as possessing a sensory processing disorder. It’s often confusing!
ADHD
Up until 1994, ADHD was known as Attentive Deficit Disorder or ADD. In 1994, it was renamed ADHD and broken down into three separate subtypes with specific characteristics.
Inattentive Type, with signs that include:
Difficulty with sustained tasks
Noticeable listening problems
Difficulty following directions
Tendency to lose things such as toys, notebooks, or homework
Distracted easily
Hyperactive-Impulsive Type,with signs that include:
Fidgeting or squirming
Difficulty remaining seated
Always “on the go”
Difficulty waiting for a turn in line
Excessive talking
Problems with interrupting and intruding
The third type of ADHD is a combination of inattentive type and hyperactive-impulsive type and is the most common form of ADHD.
Research has shown that ADHD is repeatedly linked to genetics. Often, if a child has ADHD, there is a relative somewhere who suffers from it as well. Frequently, parents will bring their children who suffer from ADHD to me for help. Sometimes as we start discussing their children’s problems maintaining focus, sitting still or keeping track of items, one of the parents will chime in, “Oh, that sounds just like me when I was a kid. But, no one ever called it anything. I was just an active kid, and sometimes a troublemaker.”
Executive Function
In order to recognize Executive Function Disorder, it is important to understand what executive skills are. In their book, Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents, Peg Dawson and Richard Guare explain:
Executive skills allow us to organize our behavior over time and override immediate demands in favor of longer-term goals. Through the use of these skills we can plan and organize activities, sustain attention, and persist to complete a task. Executive skills enable us to manage our emotions and monitor our thoughts in order to work more efficiently and effectively. Simply stated, these skills help us to regulate our behavior.
Among the individual skills that allow people to self-regulate are:
* Planning: the ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal. This also includes the ability to focus only on what is important.
* Organization: the ability to keep track of multiple sets of information and materials.
* Time management: the ability to understand how much time one has, and to figure out how to divide it in order to meet a goal.
* Working memory: the ability to hold information in mind even while performing other tasks.
* Metacognition: the ability to self-monitor and recognize when you are doing something poorly or well.
* Response inhibition: the ability to think before you speak or act.
* Sustained attention: the ability to attend to a situation or task in spite of distraction, fatigue or boredom.
People who suffer from Executive Function Disorder lack many of the abilities above. This can lead to persistent lateness, impulsive behavior, and the inability to complete any task completely.
If you see that nothing motivates your child to learn, think about getting him evaluated. Life can be much more enjoyable – if you know how to celebrate his differences. Armed with this knowledge, you can go off and help your child truly fulfill his potential!