My ten year old son with ASD has a hard time focusing on homework. Any advice?

Peter G. from Ocean Grove, California

Hi, Peter- thanks for writing in. A classic ABA strategy is called errorless learning. We want to set your son up for success, so if you want to help him improve his focus it might be best to work on it away from actually daily homework demands to start. Try giving your son an easier assignment to complete - with already mastered or nearly mastered material (maybe with his teacher’s input). By lessening the academic challenge with “gimme” demands, you’re trying to make a mountain into a slight incline to build success and zero in on the focus aspect of the work. Pick a calm, brief time to do this – always try to keep it light with a pleasant activity waiting on the other side and observe for interfering behavior that derails the work getting completed. Is sitting down a challenge? Transitioning to starting where things bog down? Having proper materials and supplies available to minimize disruptions? Feeling overwhelmed? Giving up when something is frustrating or requires sustained mental effort? You will learn so much about your son and where he needs support from this effort. Once you have isolated an area, you can make a plan to build up that aspect of his need. For example, some with focus challenges benefit from covering all the examples on a page except the one that needs to be completed to help reduce feeling overwhelmed. Through trial and error effort you will discover a lot about what works better. These are all sound ideas but they can be challenging for parents and kids to navigate due to emotional reactivity by one or both of you. That’s where an ABA Telehealth Project expert can help support both of you to come up with an individualized plan that works for your family.