Mechanisms of motor disinhibition and specific types of correctional work. Patience and more patience. Dedicated to mothers of hyperactive children. Educational issues

In the process of maturation, a child goes through certain stages, which gradually differentiate and become more complex. An infant's psyche is almost undeveloped, and he reacts to all influences in the form of vegetative and somatic symptoms (fever, vomiting, malnutrition, etc.). Growing up, the child reaches another stage of development - psychomotor, and all the adverse effects that occur between the ages of 4 and 7 years can cause various disorders of the motor sphere, in the form of impaired motor coordination (tics, stuttering), the child becomes either inhibited or disinhibited. With the onset of the third level of development, typical disorders disappear and movement disorders are no longer typical, because the age stage has passed. What are the causes of excessive fussiness? There are a lot of them, starting from perinatal age (maternal pregnancy, birth trauma, various infectious diseases, head injuries at an early age, etc.). As soon as the child has reached the psychomotor level of development, he begins to exhibit excessive motor activity.

The causes of disinhibition act on the reticular formation, this is a specific area of ​​the brain that is responsible for motor activity and expression of emotions, for human energy, activates the cerebral cortex and other structures. The child becomes motorally disinhibited when the reticular formation is in an excited state. Motor disinhibition can be of varying degrees, it depends on the disorders of nearby parts of the brain and on the degree of damage to the reticular formation itself. It is combined in different ways with other deviations: for example, with mental immaturity, when a ten-year-old child behaves like a six-year-old. Such children lag behind in their emotional-volitional development and their reactions of younger ages predominate - harmonious infantilism. They are overly mobile, restless, constantly fussing, careless, superficial in their affections, and cheerful. They soon get bored with any games or activities. Classes at school are difficult for them, as they require concentration, but on the contrary, they want to run, jump, and play. In rare cases, it is necessary to resort to drug treatment; harmonious infantilism gradually goes away on its own, but this requires the help of teachers and parents. Harmonic infantilism is mainly a pedagogical problem. Teachers and parents must instill in children a desire for independence, a sense of responsibility, and discipline; they must constantly monitor their children. There is no point in punishing such children. They themselves need to learn to repent for their behavior. To do this, you must praise and encourage children for good behavior and deprive them of rewards for bad behavior, demonstrate your resentment towards them, and ignore their countless whims. This is a very long and painstaking work that requires endurance and patience.

A medical and pedagogical problem is disharmonious infantilism. Here, in addition to the symptoms characteristic of harmonious infantilism, there is excitability, instability, and a tendency to deceive, which is accompanied by motor disinhibition.

Motor disinhibition is combined with cerebrothenic syndrome and infantility. In combination with cerebrosthenic syndrome, children quickly become exhausted, tired, and become less resilient. This is accompanied by headaches, vomiting, decreased memory and attention, dizziness, and bad mood. Such children quickly get tired of a small load, from various activities and from the bustle. They become lethargic, irritable, and need rest. This manifests itself as a contribution to motor disinhibition and increased exhaustion. Others, on the contrary, become fussy, restless, disinhibited, and it is difficult to calm them down and put them to bed to rest. When motor disinhibition is combined with cerebration and infantility, its treatment is very long and difficult.

A psychopathic-like syndrome occurs when the frontal lobes of the brain are contused. Children become silly, fussy, careless, do not respond to comments, laugh, look stupid, some have to be transferred to individual training, as they can create a danger for other children and cause disorganization.

There are cases when a psychopathic-like syndrome is combined with motor disinhibition and impaired drives. In such cases, children run away from home, steal, drink alcohol, smoke, lead an antisocial lifestyle, and become insensitive. This requires treatment and medication. Parents and teachers must instill obedience to discipline and the ability to repent. Responsibility is required on the part of parents and on the part of teachers and on the part of doctors. The work must be joint, in close cooperation.

Motor disinhibition is a very visible and noticeable symptom, the disturbances of which can be quickly and completely cured. The main thing is to cultivate patience, perseverance and discipline in the child, as well as to treat patiently.

RISK FACTORS IN THE MENTAL DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Before considering risk factors in the mental development of children of different ages, we will highlight the question of how to determine the severity of a child’s disorder. M. Rutter offers the following criteria for assessing possible deviations in any behavior .

1. Standards corresponding to age characteristics and
child's gender

A number of behavioral features are normal only for children of a certain age. Thus, wet diapers of infants and even children under 4–5 years of age worry parents little, while for a ten-year-old child such cases are considered a deviation from the norm.

2. Duration of persistence of the disorder
Children quite often experience various fears, seizures,

other disorders. However, cases of long-term (months or years) persistence of these conditions are rare and, naturally, should cause concern in adults.

3. Life circumstances

Temporary fluctuations in the behavior and emotional state of children are a common and normal phenomenon, since development never occurs smoothly, and temporary regression occurs quite often. However, all these phenomena and fluctuations occur more often in some conditions than in others, so it is important to take into account the circumstances of the child’s life. Thus, many children react with regression in behavior to the appearance of a younger brother or sister, and with an increase in anxiety - to a change in kindergarten or group. In general, stress increases a child's existing emotional or behavioral difficulties.

4. Sociocultural environment
Differentiation between normal and abnormal behavior cannot be made

absolute. Behavior must be assessed from the point of view of the norms of its immediate sociocultural environment. Cultural differences that exist in society significantly influence the variability of generally normal behavior.

5. Degree of violation
Individual symptoms are much more common than a whole series

symptoms at the same time. Children with multiple emotional and behavioral disorders require more attention, especially if they simultaneously affect different aspects of mental life.

6. Symptom type
Some symptoms are caused by incorrect upbringing of the child,

others – mental disorder. Thus, the habit of biting nails is equally common in both normal and mentally ill children, so this symptom in itself, although alarming, does not mean anything. At the same time, disruption of relationships with peers is much more often associated with a mental disorder and therefore requires more careful attention.

7. Severity and frequency of symptoms
Moderate, occasional behavioral difficulties for children

more common than serious, frequently recurring disorders. It is very important to find out the frequency and duration of adverse symptoms.

8. Behavior change
When I analyze children’s behavior, I should compare its manifestations

not only with those traits that are characteristic of children in general, but also with those that are common for a given child. You should be attentive to changes in the child’s behavior that are difficult to explain by the laws of normal development and maturation.

9. Situational specificity of the symptom
It is believed that a symptom, the manifestation of which does not depend on any

situation, reflects a more serious disorder than a symptom that occurs only in a specific setting.

Thus, when deciding whether a child’s behavior deviates from the norm, one should take into account a combination of all the above criteria.

Let's consider the most common difficulties in the behavior and development of preschool children. The causes of mental development disorders may be the characteristics of the individual, including neurodynamic, properties of the child: instability of mental processes, psychomotor retardation or, conversely, psychomotor disinhibition

Psychomotor disinhibition called a psychomotor disorder in which there is increased or excessive motor and speech activity.

This neurodynamic disorder manifests itself predominantly in hyperexcitable behavior with emotional instability characteristic of such behavior, ease of transition from increased activity to passivity and, conversely, from complete inaction to disordered activity.

The hyperdynamic syndrome may be based on microorganic brain lesions resulting from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, debilitating somatic diseases of early life (severe diathesis, dyspepsia), physical and mental trauma. No other childhood difficulty causes as many criticisms and complaints from parents and kindergarten teachers as this one, which is very common in preschool age.

The peak manifestations of hyperdynamic syndrome are 6–7 years. In favorable cases, by the age of 14–15 years its severity is smoothed out, and its first manifestations can be noticed already in infancy.

Hyperactive behavior – This is the behavior of children characterized by an increased need for movement. When this need is blocked by rules of behavior, i.e. in situations in which it is necessary to control and voluntarily regulate one’s motor activity, the child’s muscle tension increases, attention deteriorates, performance decreases, and fatigue sets in. The emotional release that occurs after this is a protective physiological reaction of the body to excessive overstrain and is expressed in uncontrollable motor restlessness, disinhibition, classified as disciplinary offenses.

Main signs of a hyperactive child– motor activity, impulsivity, distractibility, inattention. The child makes restless movements with his hands and feet; sitting on a chair, writhing, squirming; easily distracted by extraneous stimuli; has difficulty waiting his turn during games, classes, and other situations; often answers questions without thinking, without listening to the end; has difficulty maintaining attention when completing tasks or playing games; often moves from one unfinished action to another; cannot play calmly, often interferes with the games and activities of other children.

A hyperactive child begins to complete a task without listening to the instructions to the end, but after a while it turns out that he does not know what to do. Then he either continues aimless actions, or annoyingly asks what to do and how to do it. Several times during the task he changes the goal, and in some cases he may completely forget about it. Often distracted while working; does not use the proposed tools, therefore he makes many mistakes that he does not see and does not correct.

A child with hyperactive behavior is constantly on the move, no matter what he is doing. Each element of his movement is fast and active, but in general there are a lot of unnecessary, even obsessive movements. Often children with hyperactive behavior have insufficiently clear spatial coordination of movements. The child does not seem to “fit” into the space (he touches objects, bumps into corners, walls). Despite the fact that many of these children have bright facial expressions, moving eyes, and fast speech, they often find themselves outside the situation (lesson, game, communication), and after some time they “return” to it again. The effectiveness of “splashing” activity with hyperactive behavior is not always high; often what is started is not completed, the child jumps from one thing to another.

A child with hyperactive behavior is impulsive, and it is impossible to predict what he will do next. The child himself does not know this. He acts without thinking about the consequences, although he does not plan anything bad and is sincerely upset about the incident of which he becomes the culprit. Such a child easily endures punishment, does not hold a grudge, constantly quarrels with his peers and immediately makes peace. This is the noisiest child in the children's group.

Children with hyperactive behavior have difficulty adapting to the conditions of kindergarten, do not fit well into the children's group, and often have problems in relationships with peers. The maladaptive behavior of such children indicates insufficiently formed regulatory mechanisms of the psyche, primarily self-control as the most important condition and necessary link in the development of voluntary behavior.

The child's distractibility and motor disinhibition must be persistently and consistently overcome from the very first years of his life. There should be a clear distinction between purposeful activity and aimless mobility. It is impossible to restrain the physical mobility of such a child; this is contraindicated in the state of his nervous system. But his motor activity must be directed and organized: if he runs somewhere, then let it be to carry out some kind of assignment. Outdoor games with rules and sports activities can provide good help. The most important thing is to subordinate his actions to the goal and teach him to achieve it.

In older preschool age, a hyperdynamic child begins to be taught perseverance. When he runs around and gets tired, you can offer him to do modeling, drawing, design, and you must definitely try to make sure that interest in such an activity encourages the child to complete the work he has begun. At first, the perseverance of adults is required, who sometimes literally physically hold the child at the table, helping him complete the construction or drawing. Gradually, perseverance will become habitual for him and, upon entering school, he will be able to sit at his desk for the entire lesson.

If the manifestations of hyperdynamic syndrome are not overcome, then upon entering school, the hyperactive child will face serious difficulties. Unfortunately, such a child is often considered simply disobedient and ill-mannered, and they try to influence him with strict punishments in the form of endless prohibitions and restrictions. As a result, the situation only gets worse, since the nervous system of a hyperdynamic child simply cannot cope with such a load and breakdown follows breakdown. Particularly devastating manifestations of the syndrome begin to affect approximately 13 years of age and older, determining the fate of an adult.

Among psychomotor disorders Psychomotor disinhibition syndrome occupies a large place in young children. It is most often observed with early organic brain damage. The nature and degree of its severity may vary. Children are disinhibited, constantly on the move, breaking objects, tearing, scratching everything that comes to hand. When tired and before bedtime, motor restlessness usually increases. Psychomotor disinhibition of organic origin is often accompanied by a tendency to rhythmic stereotypes. In some children, against the background of psychomotor disinhibition, poverty of spontaneous activity predominates, in others there is a constant need for changes in actions.

Psychomotor disinhibition usually combined with frequent mood swings towards irritable-gloomy, with increased affective excitability. New distractibility, sleep disturbances, and a number of pathological habits are also noted. Children bite their nails and suck their fingers for a long time and persistently; sometimes pathological attractions are observed (elements of sadism, masturbation, etc.).

Peculiar psychomotor agitation syndrome can also manifest itself in mental illnesses in children, in particular schizophrenia. Psychomotor agitation in schizophrenia is called catatonic. This is an empty, absurd, unmotivated motor excitation, which is accompanied by pretentious stereotypical hand movements, incoherent speech, negativity reactions, echolalia (echo-like repetition of audible words), echopraxia (echo-like repetition of visible movements). A child in a state of such excitement usually does not react to the environment and commits a number of impulsive actions. Schizophrenia is characterized by the replacement of such excitation with more or less prolonged episodes of freezing and stupor.

State of psychomotor agitation may be the equivalent of a seizure. In these cases, psychomotor agitation occurs suddenly, paroxysmally, against the background of depressed consciousness, sometimes accompanied by individual muscle twitching. After the attack, the child does not remember what happened. In some cases, for example, in deep cerebrasthenic conditions, a syndrome of motor retardation occurs.

Perceptual disorders- disturbance of sensations and perception. Many symptoms and syndromes of neuropsychiatric diseases in children are associated with impaired perception. Perceptual disorders may occur in children with early organic brain damage. They are especially pronounced in cerebral palsy, which is characterized by specific sensory disorders (visual, auditory, kinesthetic), as well as disruption of the joint activity of various analyzers. This in turn leads to underdevelopment of Gnostic functions, in particular, optical-spatial gnosis. Young children with cerebral palsy have difficulty distinguishing the shape, size of objects, and their spatial location. In the future, more clear spatiotemporal disturbances may be revealed.

Perceptual disorders are also typical for children with mental retardation, and the severity of the disorders corresponds to the degree of decline in intelligence.
Symptoms of perceptual disorders in young children may manifest themselves in the occurrence of false perceptions (illusions and hallucinations).

Fears and obsessions

The emergence of various fears is quite typical for childhood and puberty. Most often this is a neurotic fear of the dark, loneliness, separation from parents and loved ones, and increased attention to one’s health. In some cases, these fears are short-term (10-20 minutes), quite rare and usually caused by some emotionally significant situations. They pass easily after a calming conversation, and the child develops a critical attitude towards them. In other cases, fears may take the form of short attacks that occur quite often and over a relatively long period of time (1-1.5 months). The cause of such attacks is protracted situations that traumatize the child’s psyche (severe illness of relatives and friends, intractable conflict at school or in the family, etc.). Often an attack of fear is accompanied by unpleasant bodily sensations (“heart stops,” “not enough air,” “lump in the throat”), motor fussiness, tearfulness and irritability. With timely identification and taking adequate measures, fears gradually disappear.

Otherwise, they can take a protracted course (from several months to a year or more), and then even therapeutic measures do not always give the desired results. Fears appear in the form of obsessions and compulsive actions. Among obsessions, fears of infection and illness, fear of sharp objects (especially needles), closed spaces, and obsessive fear of speech in people who stutter predominate. With age, fear of being called to the board or fear of oral answers arises, accompanied by an inability to coherently present the material when well prepared. Often, anxious-obsessive anticipation and fear lead to failure when trying to perform even a habitual action.

Obsessive movements and actions can also be quite varied. At school and primary school age, elementary obsessive tics are often encountered (blinking, wrinkling of the forehead and nose, twitching of the shoulders, sniffing, grunting, etc.). Closely related to obsessive actions are harmful habitual actions (finger sucking, nail biting, hair plucking, etc.). They are not always intrusive in nature, and the fight against them mainly comes down to the use of psychological and pedagogical measures.

In older children and adolescents, obsessive fears become more complex, and actions take the form of painful protective, sometimes quite complex rituals. An obsessive fear of getting infected is accompanied by frequent hand washing; an obsessive fear of getting a bad grade leads to a number of prohibitions (for example, not going to the movies or watching TV on certain days, not getting on a bus or tram that has a certain number in its number). Teenagers often develop rituals (wearing “lucky” shirts, socks, etc. to tests and exams) and ritual objects (a braid around the neck with a “lucky” trinket, a “lucky” pencil or pen, etc.) . Obsessive thoughts, obsessive counting (of windows in houses, cars, men and women met on the street, etc.), obsessive repetition of the same words are also possible. As a rule, obsessions arise against the background of various difficult experiences for the child, as well as in children with certain character traits: timidity, anxiety, suspiciousness, etc.

Dysmorphophobia

At a more mature (adolescent) age, other fears of dysmorphophobia may appear. This is understood as an unfounded belief in the presence of a physical defect that is unpleasant for others. This phenomenon occurs mainly in girls.

Often a teenager finds defects in the face (large or thin nose, hump, too full lips, unattractive ear shape, presence of pimples and blackheads, etc.). Sometimes these are flaws in the figure (short or too tall, full hips, narrow shoulders, excessive thinness or fullness, thin legs, etc.).

Thoughts about one’s imagined defectiveness occupy a central place in a teenager’s experiences and determine the entire stereotype of his behavior. He can spend hours looking at himself in the mirror, finding more and more flaws. The teenager begins to retire, so as not to be the subject of discussion, and avoids the company of peers. At school he tries to sit in the back desk, to be closer to the wall, he is very reluctant to go out to answer to the board, and during breaks he also tries to be alone. Sometimes, in order to cover up an imaginary defect in the facial area, he grows long hair and wears high-collared shirts. On the street, he covers his face with a hat or scarf pulled down over his eyes.

Painful thoughts about his ugliness often lead a teenager to a cosmetologist with a request to eliminate a physical defect (shorten the nose, eliminate a hump, “fix” the ears, etc.). These students should be consulted by a psychiatrist.

Motor disinhibition

Motor disinhibition is one of the most common behavioral disorders in childhood and early adolescence. It manifests itself in restlessness and an abundance of insufficiently targeted movements. Violent playfulness, the desire to run races, jump, and start various outdoor games are combined in such children with increased distractibility and an inability to concentrate for a long time. The child cannot concentrate on the teacher’s explanations and is easily distracted when doing homework, as a result of which his academic performance is seriously affected.

Along with motor disinhibition, emotional instability, irritability, and a tendency to aggressive actions and conflicts are often encountered. Such teenagers, as a rule, are constant violators of discipline.

Motor disinhibition gradually smoothes out as people grow older and can completely disappear at 15-16 years of age.

This deviation (which is primarily of a neurological nature) is characterized by high impulsiveness, mobility, restlessness, distractibility, and decreased self-control. A hyperactive child cannot sit still and constantly twirls something in his hands. At the same time, in contrast to productive activity, focus is low. The child does not accept the task set by an adult well, jumps from one activity to another, although he can do something he loves for a long time, without stopping or being distracted. With hyperactivity, tics and obsessive movements are frequent (but not obligatory). The cause of hyperactivity may be increased intracranial pressure (hydrocephalus) or organic brain damage. In many cases, it is not possible to establish a physiological cause for hyperactivity. If hyperactivity is suspected, consultation with a neurologist is recommended.

G. Asthenia

This is a state of nervous exhaustion, weakness. In this state, both physical and mental fatigue sharply increases in the child, and performance decreases. With asthenia, memory and attention deteriorate. Tearfulness, moodiness, and irritability appear. Asthenia occurs as a result of illnesses (both nervous and general), overwork, lack of vitamins, and lifestyle disorders (lack of sleep, nutrition, walking). Long-term stress also leads to asthenia. Some children have a predisposition to mild asthenia - the so-called asthenic type, characterized by a general weakening of the nervous system and high sensitivity (sensitivity). By the end of the school year, most schoolchildren experience more or less pronounced asthenic conditions due to the fatigue that has accumulated over the year. For severe signs of asthenia, consultation with a neurologist is recommended.

D. Decreased motivation

This is one of the common causes of school difficulties. It can be local (that is, relate only to some - then a specific type of activity) or general (relating to any activity). A local decrease in motivation is most significant when it relates to educational activities. A decrease in educational motivation, as a rule, is reflected in the child’s behavior during a psychological examination, especially when tasks similar to academic ones are offered. A general decrease in motivation is most characteristic of depression. It is also possible with deep asthenia and with some other mental disorders.

III.4. Correlating complaints with mental development features

In this subsection we will dwell on the question of what the psychological causes of some of the most widespread complaints with which primary schoolchildren are brought to a consulting psychologist may be. Knowing this will help to analyze survey materials in a more targeted manner.

A. The child does not study well

This is perhaps the most common complaint in primary school age. Often, in the initial complaint, parents and teachers do not note any other difficulties: poor performance overshadows everything else for them. Only in the final conversation, when the consultant describes the psychological characteristics of the child, other problems emerge (communication disorders, emotional distress, etc.). One of the following reasons (or a combination of several of them) may be behind this complaint:

Impaired mental function(learning disabilities). In our experience, when a complaint is made about poor academic performance, in approximately half of the cases one or another degree of deviation in the development of cognitive processes is detected. It should be borne in mind that even in a normal sample, learning disabilities are quite common (occurring in approximately 20-25% of primary schoolchildren). In relatively rare cases, academic failure is explained by deeper impairments in intellectual development ( mental retardation).

Chronic failure . If parents or a teacher report that a child is failing in almost all subjects, then the examination almost always reveals signs of chronic failure. Rare exceptions are cases of mental retardation, particularly profound mental retardation, infantilism, or a sharp decrease in motivation, leading to negative assessments being of little significance for the child. Sometimes the psychological syndrome of chronic failure is the only cause of academic failure, but more often it appears in combination with other deviations: learning disabilities, asthenia, and a mild decrease in educational motivation. A more localized disorder that causes symptoms similar to chronic failure is school anxiety .

Withdrawal from activities rarely leads to particularly profound underachievement, however, this psychological syndrome also reduces educational achievements. Sometimes this syndrome can be suspected by the very nature of the complaint, when it is not so much the low academic performance that is emphasized as the child’s passivity.

Verbalism– one of the common reasons for the pronounced unevenness of a child’s achievements. As a rule, children with verbalism read well and are able to answer questions comprehensively and “smoothly,” but they have problems with subjects that require a higher level of intellectual development. Most often they relate to mathematics, and primarily to problem solving, while examples aimed at formally performing arithmetic operations do not cause difficulties.

Lack of educational and cognitive motives . This reason for academic failure is rare at the beginning of schooling. However, by the second year of study, motivation decreases in many children. Of course, it is not the children who are to blame for this, but the adults who create an atmosphere of coercion and joylessness around studying. A general decrease in motivation is much less common than a local decrease in educational motives.

Asthenia . With asthenia, parents and teachers usually note a relatively recent decline in academic performance, which was previously good. Teachers also report that in the first (morning) lessons the child works better than in the last, and at the beginning of the lesson - better than at the end. As a rule, there are direct indications of increased fatigue.

B. The child is lazy

This is one of the very common complaints, and there can be a variety of reasons behind it. Let's look at some of them.

Excessive requirements . Often, parents and teachers consider a child lazy who studies quite normally, but, in fact, does not make any special efforts and therefore does not fully realize his potential at school. However, he may have some - then his hobby - for example, he likes to play football. It is then quite natural that he devotes only as much time to his studies as is necessary to remain at an average level, even if his abilities allow him to achieve much more. Any claims against such a child are inappropriate. He, like any person, has the right to choose his hobbies.

Decreased educational and cognitive motives . This problem was discussed in the previous subsection. It is often behind both complaints about poor performance and complaints about laziness.

Slow pace of activity . In these cases, the child works completely conscientiously and purposefully, but so slowly that it seems to others that he is too lazy to move or make any effort. In fact, the slowness of the pace of activity is of a physiological nature (the slow flow of nervous processes) and in no case can be considered “laziness.”

Asthenicity, decreased energy gives the most classic picture of “laziness”: a child likes to lie in bed for a long time, does nothing for hours (since he has no strength to do anything), lifts a finger and is already tired... It seems to adults that he could not get tired of such a trifling effort, but it turns out that he could.

Self-doubt, anxiety can also manifest itself as “laziness”: the child does not write a phrase because he is completely unsure of what and how to write. He begins to shirk any action if he is not sure that he will perform it well, and an anxious person almost never has such confidence.

Violation of relationship with teacher- another common reason for shirking schoolwork, perceived by adults as “laziness.” The child does not want to go to school, do homework, and is not interested in anything even remotely reminiscent of school.

Laziness in the truest sense of the word, that is, hedonism, when a child does only what pleases him and avoids everything else, is quite rare. When it is nevertheless observed, we can assume with a high degree of confidence that its root cause is ordinary spoilage.

B. The child is distracted

Complaints about inattention and childhood absent-mindedness are very common in advisory practice. Naturally, with such a complaint, it is necessary, first of all, to check the attention function using some special technique (in particular, the “Coding” test is convenient for this; see II.3. IN). Taking into account other data, this makes it possible to distinguish the main types of behavior, commonly referred to in everyday life as “inattention.”

Immaturity of the attention function- not only not the only, but also by no means the most common cause of complaints about inattention. If it really does occur, then it is necessary to find out whether the child has signs of organic brain damage, which serves as the most common basis for primary attention disorders. If such signs are present, consultation with a neurologist is advisable.

Lack of organization of actions– one of the most common problems hidden behind a complaint of inattention. Its essence is that the child does not know effective methods of self-organization, to put it simply, he does not know how to work. This inability is most clearly manifested in the “Complex Figure” technique (see II.3. A), it is also reflected in the “Pictogram” technique (II.2. B). In this case, the actual function of attention can be completely preserved, and in tasks that do not require complex organization and planning of one’s actions, the child’s “inattention” will not manifest itself.

Withdrawal from activities, in which the child is immersed in himself, in his fantasies and dreams, also creates the impression of inattention. At the same time, the child becomes distracted and absent-minded when the activity is boring for him, but he concentrates well and becomes especially attentive when faced with an interesting task. The tasks proposed by the consultant during the examination are, as a rule, new, entertaining and attractive for younger students. And often the teacher or parents, who complained about the child’s absent-mindedness and lack of concentration, note that “now with you he was surprisingly collected and attentive; This doesn’t usually happen.” Such selectivity of attention indicates the motivational reasons for its disconnection in certain areas of life.

Decreased learning motivation . In this case, “turning off” attention occurs according to the same mechanism as when leaving an activity, with the only difference being that it usually switches not to fantasies, but to some external factor.

Anxiety, which destroys any activity, is especially harmful to attention. Both anxiety “in its pure form” (acting as a monosymptom) and anxiety that is part of a more complex symptom complex (for example, with chronic failure) can lead to pronounced disturbances of attention.

Hyperactivity(motor disinhibition) inevitably disrupts the function of attention. These violations are very persistent and extend to a wide variety of activities.

Intellectualism often leads to everyday absent-mindedness: a child forgets his briefcase at school, loses the key to the apartment on the way home, etc. In reality, these are not violations of attention, but manifestations of high selectivity of memory (akin to “professor absent-mindedness”): the child is focused on solving intellectual problems and sincerely forgets about the “little things in life.”

D. The child is uncontrollable

Uncontrollability and disobedience of a child are the most common behavioral complaints. The following reasons may be behind it:

Adult mistake who do not know how to assess the age characteristics of children and take what they want as the norm, and the reality as a deviation. We are talking about cases when a child is obedient and controllable to exactly the same extent as most of his peers, but this seems insufficient to parents. For example, a father is concerned about the “uncontrollability” of his seven-year-old son: “It is impossible to teach him to brush his teeth every day, without reminders, to make his own bed, or to keep his shoes clean. I have to remind you every time. He is completely uncontrollable!” This kind of error is almost never found among teachers, since they have sufficient experience in observing children, but they are quite common among parents. They are typical for parents with an epileptoid personality type, who themselves are highly punctual and expect the same from their child.

Increased energy child. This is a variant of normal development that does not require correction, although the complaint of the parents (or teacher) is completely adequate: the child is indeed difficult to control. When a child sets goals for himself and, knowing firmly what he wants, knows how to achieve his own, then adults really have a hard time with him. However, in terms of prognosis, powerful activity with a high level of goal-directed behavior is a favorable development option (however, if the child is not “shut down” for excessive independence and a tendency to risky experiments).

Hyperactivity(motor disinhibition) also often causes complaints about the child’s uncontrollability. This diagnosis should be clearly distinguished from the diagnosis of “increased energy”. A child with hyperactivity is characterized by insufficient goal-directed behavior, while with increased energy, goal-directedness, on the contrary, is increased compared to the usual level. Unlike increased energy, hyperactivity is, of course, a developmental deviation that requires correction to the extent possible (unfortunately, the possibilities in this regard are quite limited).

Negative self-presentation– a psychological syndrome, the main manifestation of which is precisely uncontrollability, and deliberately. It serves as a means for the child to attract the attention of adults, which he is not able to achieve in other ways.

Social disorientation– another psychological syndrome, the central manifestation of which is uncontrollability. However, social disorientation leads to uncontrollability not due to the child’s conscious desire to break the rules, but due to their misunderstanding.

Spoiled, which is not a psychological deviation, also often leads to uncontrollability. It is common for children who are constantly surrounded by many overly caring adults (grandparents, etc.). Spoilage often occurs in a child from a single-parent family, on whom a single mother is overly withdrawn.