Developing+Control+Over+Attention

==Derrick is a twelve-year-old seventh grader who is a bit of a puzzle to his parents and teachers. His social studies teacher reports that he is “hot and cold.” Sometimes, he sits quietly and doodles in his notebook, not saying much at all. But at other times, he is an eager participant in class discussion, coming up with many original comments.==

==In fact, some of his comments are so original that they seem to have little to do with the topic of discussion. For example, recently, when the class was talking about the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, Derrick commented that the Washington Monument is being renovated. After class, his teacher asked why he thought of that, and Derrick said, “Well, we were talking about Abraham Lincoln ending slavery, and I started thinking about seeing the Lincoln Memorial on my vacation this summer, and I remembered seeing that the Washington Monument had scaffolding on it.==

==Derrick’s math teacher is particularly perplexed. She says, “Derrick has a good understanding of math concepts. When you talk with him about how to solve problems, he gets the process.” Math is actually Derrick’s favorite academic subject; he likes to help his mom do calculations (e.g., at the grocery store). However, he often makes mistakes, because he misreads math symbols, for example, variables in equations or signs such as + and x.==

==One thing that Derrick does very well is to “look into the future.” His parents note that he often figures out how stories and television shows will end. His art teacher has described his ability to picture how his work will look before he starts. Similarly, Derrick is good at “looking back,” using his past experiences to figure out the best way to proceed. For example, in science class, he recently asked the teacher if he could switch partners for a lab activity, explaining, “Last week all we did was goof around, and we didn’t do our work.”==

Adapted from All Kinds of Minds. (n.d.). Resources, Case Studies, Developing Control Over Attention, Derrick – 7th grade. Retrieved from June 21, 2008 http://allkindsofminds.org/CategoryAll.aspx?section#CaseStudy