How I helped my child with autism work on concentration looks at what we did to help Logan improve his focus overall. Concentration issues go hand in hand with any neurological condition like autism. It’s not that our kids with autism don’t want to concentrate on anything. They just can’t do it for any extended period of time. We have done several things to help Logan in an effort to help him work for longer periods of time. We need him to be able to concentrate in order to learn as well as to help him when it comes time to get a job. This needs to happen regardless of his interest level or what is happening around him. It’s just one of the things that make for a successful life. It’s also a huge struggle for our kids with autism.
What has worked for us the best is to apply Attention Assist to the back of his neck at his brain stem before he needs to concentrate for an extended period. Why the base of the neck? We want to apply it to the brain stem. I do this using a roller bottle that I have filled with the mixture. This particular blend includes vetiver, frankincense, cedarwood and lavender in a fractionated coconut oil base. You can literally pour it into the roller ball right from the bottle.
I keep this roller ball in several places like I do with many others. One is in a box on the counter for Logan to access as needed. One is in a cosmetic bag in my purse along with his Epi Pen should we need it while we are out. One is packaged in a hard case for him to pack if he happens to be going away for the weekend. This one hasn’t had much use since we moved to Arizona but I’m prayerful that will change in the future. Point is that these items are always within reach for use whenever needed.
Some wonderful things we see when we use this roller ball combo on his brain stem is the ability to focus on a task for far longer than he can without it. Since he has graduated from high school, it’s not used for lessons anymore. He mainly uses it now for before church when he needs to concentrate on what the sermon is about in addition to before game night when he needs to be able to stick with the game until the end. He can put it on his own neck at this point. When we first started he wanted me to do it when needed. I have gradually transferred that responsibility over to him. He needs to take ownership of taking care of his own needs if we are ever going to approach independence.
A few activities we also used to work on extending concentration were;
- jigsaw puzzles
- putting him in charge of the grocery list when we went shopping. He had to tell us what to get next.
- cooking
- board games
We started with short increments ALWAYS ending with success. This built positive episodic memories that allowed us to ask more of him in the future. Using the oils as well commenting on what we could see was a clear success for him ingrained it into his mind that it was in his best interest to use them when he needed to concentrate. Success for us was the ability to focus on the task at hand for what was clearly longer than he could do without the oils.
A great time to use this would be before therapy sessions either at home or at a center. You want to get the most bang for your buck so to speak during these therapy sessions. Having a child who can concentrate as well as focus for the whole session is the best use of not only your time but also your money. This may translate to less visits needed in order to achieve your therapy goals allowing you to afford to do something else to help your child.
Want to try them for yourself? Rocky Mountain Oils has made a generous offer to my readers. You can get a bottle of Attention Assist along with a roller bottle for $12! You can literally get started using this immediately. A couple of favorite things about this company
- you can buy high quality oils at an affordable cost with no mlm to join
- free shipping
- free returns if it doesn’t work for you so there is nothing to lose by trying it out on your child
Other posts you may like:
3 Things We Treat With Essential Oils For Autism
Using Essential Oils For Autism
Essential Oils Aren’t Safe To Take Internally… True or False?
3 Facebook Groups To Join For Essential Oils & Autism
A Mother’s Journey Through PANDAS Using Essential Oils
