A child -busy studying
- Being easily distracted
- Making “careless” mistakes
- Struggling to follow instructions carefully and completely
- Repeatedly losing things like toys, pencils, or anything you might need to complete a task
Psychiatrists have identified that problem with attention, is often coupled with signs of hyperactivity such as:
- Restlessness and fidgeting
- Dashing about in situations when the child as expected to sit still and be quiet
- Blurting out answers or interrupting others
- Getting really frustrated if you have to wait in line or queue
The symptomatic types of signs associated with attention deficit lead to frequent wrong diagnosis of ADHD. Parents, teachers and doctors have to be keenly alert to whether signs are demonstrated across a number of situations, e.g.in school, at home, during extracurricular activities or if they are isolated to a specific subject area, which may indicate a much more specific problem.
In order to gain a formal diagnosis, psychiatrists/doctors will be looking for evidence that the problems were demonstrated early in life (before the age of 7).
Once a psychiatrist /doctor has this evidence, a full assessment, which often includes lots of different specialists, can start. However, arriving at a formal diagnosis for ADHD can sometimes be a longwinded and frustrating process. Also, because poor concentration often affects progress at school, problems can be compounded with the passing of time.
Once diagnosed, treating a child with ADHD can present a difficult choice: whether or not to make use of medication. Other approaches include behavioral modification and management program.
Symptomatic highlights:
Attention
- Does your child struggle with attention and concentration?
- Balance and Coordination Reading and Writing
It could be dyspraxia or Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), a condition that affects around 1 in 30 of us. Boys are at least four times more likely to be affected than girls.
There seems to be some difficulty with the way the brain processes information – it affects planning of what you want to do and how you want to do it.
Often difficulties with coordination go hand-in hand with other issues, such as difficulty with reading, Attention and Organization Skills.
For children with coordination difficulties, actions like running, jumping, balancing and cycling can prove extremely challenging. For adults, this may have translated into difficulty with driving, household chores, cooking and even getting dressed.
The tell-tale signs can be spotted at two levels.
There may be problems with gross motor coordination skills, which may result in:
- Poor balance
- Difficulty learning to catch and throw
- Difficulty learning to ride a bicycle
- Difficulty climbing stairs
- Difficulty learning to get dressed
There may also be problems with fine motor coordination skills, including difficulty with:
- Delicate tasks like using cutlery
- Doing up buttons and zips
- Tying shoe laces or ties
- Handwriting
Often, as time goes on and children get more practice, things may become easier. In some cases, physiotherapy or occupational therapy may be appropriate.
Of all the skills we learn as children, reading and writing are among the most difficult and important. They help us build our knowledge and gain an understanding of the world.
As we get older, our ability to take in and produce written information is considered to be a fundamental skill required for success. So it is not surprising that if reading and writing prove to be difficult skills to learn, it can be a problem for the child, for their parents and for teachers at school.
For children with learning difficulties, learning to read can be an exhausting and frustrating task that simply doesn’t get any easier. In many instances, these difficulties continue into adulthood and the difficulty is hidden or avoided rather than overcome.
Lots of people take the act of reading for granted. For them it is acquired effortlessly and soon becomes second nature. But the processes involved are anything but simple! When we look at some text, a lot of physical, neurological and mental processes have to work together in order for us to make sense of what is on the page.
Our eyes have to track the text in a precise movement; nerves in our eyes take information to the brain; the brain does some special processing to convert that into language; and then that information has to be converted again into meanings.
With a process this complex, there are plenty of things that can (and do) go wrong for some people. It is not that those people are lazy or stupid. In fact they might be trying MUCH harder than other people, but it is simply that their ability to process the information, and make things become automatic, is not as efficient. Learning through practice is consequently much slower than it should be. When children are learning to read, there are a number of different signs that they might be Struggling . Signs include:
- Difficulty sounding out words and recognizing them out of context
- Confusion between letters and the sounds they represent
- Difficulty reading aloud
- Reading without expression
- Ignoring punctuation
- Comprehension difficulties
- Trouble remembering or summarizing what is read
Often people who have significant problems with reading and writing will be diagnosed with dyslexia. This is no reflection on intelligence or IQ (many are bright and creative people).
People tackle difficulties with reading and writing in a number of different ways. For many, the first option is more teaching around word sounds (phonological); for others it is sound-based or visual therapy. All these routes have their merits and their success stories.
- Do you or your child have trouble with movement and coordination?
- Do you or your child have trouble with reading and writing?
Many people, who have taken up the Special Mansik Pramarsh Programme, tell us that their ability to focus on the task in hand improves dramatically.
People who have struggled to run without tripping up, or have never been able to ride a bike, tell us that they are able to do these activities for the first time. For others, it is more about small improvements day after day, but the overall result is similar.
We have successfully worked with thousands of people who have symptoms associated with dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD. Those who have completed the Programme have reported outcomes which include:
- Improved Concentration,
- Better Coordination, Increased Self-Confidence,
- More Motivation for Reading and Schoolwork,
- Improvements in Reading and Spelling Scores,
- Enhanced Social Skills And Greater Sporting Ability
Mansik Pramarsh program deals with what some researchers believe may be the underlying cause of learning difficulties; poor cerebellar efficiency. Our program aims to stimulate the cerebellum to improve concentration, coordination, reading, writing and the processing of information, as well as make skills become more automatic.
Sachin (name changed)a young boy of 12 and a student of grade 7th had been termed a big nuisance by his class teachers.They could hardly control his activities.He would just not sit at one place in the classroom. His indiscipline created problems for his teachers in school . Of late he had started arguing back with his tutors at home .There have been complaints of his misbehaving with other children of his class . His mother, a single parent was at her wits end,not knowing how to proceed about. She was advised by the school to consult a psychologist.
Akshat {name changed} another child was standing outside the school Principal’s office.This was the third time in the current session when his parents have been called to the school by the authorities.Akshat had been sliding down the side railing of the second floor stairs all alone, when he had been intercepted by his class incharge.A joint evaluation by the school teachers,psychologist and psychiatrist diagnosed severe ADHD in the child. Our experience with treating ADHD children in many such cases have proved that mindful perceptive meditation can train and condition the young brain to concentrate better and hold focus even in the event of child suffering from ADHD.Such a holistic intervention and alternative treatment have benefited many and can help your child maintain self regulation, self discipline, and developing a better attention span.
We have observed that many adults and children affected by ADHD find it very challenging to sustain their attention, and they exhibit a very hyper state of mind in situations where they are expected to remain calm and attentive.
Mindful perceptive meditation exercise develops the inner peace of mind,establishes positive relationship with the self and brings about sense of confidence and stability of mind.It helps regulate functioning of the endocrine glands of body and creates good hormones in the body. Since mindful perceptive meditation involves perception of breathing, perception of centres of our psychic hence brings about a sea change in the mindset of the protagonists.It enhances attention span. It trains the mind in the process of self-observation , trains to take care of all kinds of negativity and develop an internal power of positivity, attention, and to develop different faculties of mind and intellect . It makes the subject better aware of his or her emotional state of mind and impulsivity.
HOW DOES YOUR CENTER TEACH THE PRACTICE OF MINDFUL PERCEPTIVE MEDITATION ?
HOW AND WHERE CAN MY CHILD JOIN MINDFUL PERCEPTIVE MEDITATION PROGRAM?
Ashu (name changed) could not do anything in life ever since he had been diagnosed of schizophrenia by the psychiatrist. He had been prescribed psychotic medicines by different psychiatrist doctors wherever his family had taken him to them .Yet nothing helped. His fears and phobias had worsened with time. The voices in his head continued disturbing him. His logical cognitive ability had been completely distorted and for him all the delusions had become the real images and characters.
Similarly Sheena (name changed) continued with the fear and phobia of persecution at the hands of a person who had long moved out of her life five years ago. Sheena had been diagnosed of delusional disorder (a psychotic disorder).Her life had become completely miserable as she would often get lost into her phobia and would not be able to conduct her normal day to day routine life.
Soon a very significant improvement could be noticed in certain negative symptoms, (e.g., negativity about self and family, sense of doom, lack of interest in surroundings and /lack of drive) started yielding to positive thoughts on all these issues .The clients did respond well as we noticed Ashu and Sheena both had begun looking at the positive aspects of their life. Their sense of appreciation for some aspects of their lives could be felt in their daily interaction with us. We could see their interest reviving in their day to day life too exhibiting positive symptoms.
Family will survive all storms with a little patience and perseverance.
Mrs Sharma sounded worried when she handed over the school bag of her daughter to bus attendant, “Please tell the driver not to drive too fast. He fetches small children, They can fall off their seats “. The bus attendant just nodded her head in affirmation. Not satisfied with just a nod, Mrs Sharma moved to the front of the bus .”Please drive slow and take care of our children” she had told the driver. The driver too nodded his head. Mrs Sharma waited for the bus to move. She kick started her scooter . She paused for a moment and then turned her scooter towards the direction in which the bus had been going. She followed the bus at a safe distance and eventually having seen the bus safely getting into the school gate, she turned back . Such melodrama has been going on with Mrs Sharma for over a month now.
Julie is only six years old .She studies in the neighborhood kindergarten school. She had been fine all this while and used to be very eager to go to school every morning .Last week suddenly out of the blue she complained of stomach ache and refused to go to school. Her mother had taken her to the pediatrician who found nothing wrong with the child . The child had been referred to the school counselor. A few sessions with the parents, the child and the class teacher revealed, the child has been always worried about her mother being alone at home and this worry always prevailed upon her mind.
Mrs Narwhal was so much worried of getting affected by the germs or carrying the germs back home that she would hang an extra set of clothes in her toilet in advance , which she wanted to wear the moment she would get back home from her trip outside. Every time she had come back to her house, she would first get into the bath to wash her clothes, bathe herself in order to cleanse herself of all the germs that she thought she might have brought with her from outside. She would feel completely relieved once having done this ritual .But it is obvious, such a ritual can be a great pain to other members of her family as the rule of changing into the fresh clothes after returning from outside and of washing the clothes that had been worn for going outside immediately on return from outside played havoc with the peace of the family . Any kind of advise to Mrs Narwhal to stop worrying created further problems as she would avoid such person who would advise her to not to worry .
Tanisha (name changed) has been married for seven years into her second marriage. Her earlier marriage had not last long enough and before she could realize that she has been married, she was out of the 
It is obvious Tanisha has to bear the brunt of her husband being unemployed . She is mistreated by her mother in law too. Tanisha has been moving forth between her parents house and her in laws like a bouncing ball very frequently. The last time she had been away for over six months ( this being longest period of her leaving her husband ). Yet she comes back every time .Every month it happens either she is told to leave her in laws’ place by her mother in law or her husband or she would leave in a huff after the fight vowing never to come back . Her life goes on in spite of the mental, physical , emotional , economic and social abuse.Neither her parents want her to leave her husband nor is she confident enough to lead her life independently.
Relationship abuse is the most common form of psychological, abuse people indulge into to hold a sway over others or allow others to hold a sway over them. It is a kind of psychological exploitation by the perpetrator . At the same time it is also an unnecessary comfort area the victim gets into refusing to come out of it.
The low self-esteem in women can be the result of having undergone childhood abuse — which can instill fear of the unknown change .Doubts of self empowerment can raise their tolerance for abuse, and neglect . Such women have reported at least one incident of abuse in their early life , whether physical or psychological.Psychological abuse included things like, “touching inappropriately by a friend or a relative”, “ being bullied in their childhood”, ” being called fat or ugly”, ” having been ignored by parents, guardians, or“ being hurled insults by teachers , tutors, classmates or companions “.Most of the abuse the study indicates are psychological.
“It is possible that women with childhood abuse histories are more satisfied in their relationships than women without childhood abuse histories because they have more tolerance for mistreatment based on early life experiences and resulting interpersonal experiences ”, the researcher points out ,“…the more psychological abuse women are exposed to, the more energy and effort they put forth to resolve the conflict, thus leading to increases in perceived investment.”
When we achieve balance of emotions in our day to day life , we get a sense of self mastery and well being. But instead of managing balance of emotions we tend to get swayed by the event. We brood over the event and the person that has stirred the emotional upheaval and bring about the imbalanced attitude of negative emotions.
Alka Mansik Pramarsh Foundation Clinical Psychologists-Family therapists Indore 0731-4263087,9179383554 