Using music to enhance focus

Increasing the Attention of a Student with ADHD and Dyslexia

first published as part of my M.Ed thesis Using Art to Increase Attention in Pupils with ADHD, 2003, Lesley University.

Background, Eitan, 17

Eitan (pseudonym) is a high school student, diagnosed as dyslexic and ADD during his pre-kindergarten years. His parents have always supported his varied interests in juggling, theater and art. He’s been an active swimmer and runner, and with all these outlets for his energy, his parents never considered any need to turn to medication for additional intervention.

In public and junior high school, Eitan was placed in Special Education classes for English, but managed in every other subject to study in the framework of a regular class.

His love of music took him in new directions when he began to seriously study guitar in the 9^th grade. Given a flute by a friend, in the 11^th grade, Eitan started to carry it around with him and play between classes.  He told me that it had become a form of meditation, helping him to release tension and ease away from problems that weighed on him.

Working with Eitan

My work with him started at the beginning of the 11^th grade, when he was 16, and came to me for private lessons in English to raise his level of achievement from a 3-point Matriculation level (the lowest level) to a 5-point level of achievement (the highest).
I found his vocabulary to be basically weak for his level, but he showed an uncanny ability to pick up new words to fit his broad conceptual thinking. The boy was not only clever but also a very creative thinker, re-constructing his sentences and opinions at every opportunity. He was constantly evolving in his point of view and in his manner of self-expression.

We made great progress and bv the end of the 11^th grade, I was confident that with another year of five weekly English lessons, Eitan would do very well on a 5-point Matriculation exam.

However, in the 12^th grade, we could only schedule three weekly lessons, and also at the worst possible time of day for Eitan, after his regular school hours. Not only would we be meeting infrequently, but our time together would find him at his most tired, after pushing his mind to concentrate all day in school.

Need for Drastic Measures

It was clear from the first lesson that emergency techniques were needed to revive him and his flagging concentration.

Therefore, I set about to research theories concerning maximizing concentration. Since Eitan loved music, I began my quest in the domain of sound, rhythm and music. I came across the following from Randall McClellan in his book The Healing Forces of Music.

The belief that music embodies the power to create and sustain harmony originated among the early peoples of cultures as diverse as Mesopotamia, India, Greece, North America and Rome. Shamans, priests, prophets and philosophers across these diverse cultures recognized the therapeutic value of music and shared the concept of music as a healing force that can be used to cure disease, eliminate mental anguish, and function as a bridge through which individuals can attain a satisfying inter-connectedness.
 (McClellan, 1991)

Such a venerable collection of supporters for the value of music confirmed my own experience (playing clarinet, piano and using drumming in order to open my ear to higher sensitivity to pitch and its variations to enhance concentration).

New research in the field of learning is showing what ancient cultures have known all along – that music is much more than recreational filler.  Music brings brain power! Music strengthens attention spans, aids memory, and provides creative outlets.  Music is good for us – it’s good for our brains, our bodies, and our spirits.
(Page, 1993)

As I researched further, I discovered the same concept expressed quite clearly in Nick Page’s book: Music as a Way of Knowing.

Using Music to Enhance Long Term Memory

Nick Page works with special students as a music therapist and, in his book, outlined one specific exercise that seemed applicable to Eitan’s needs. This exercise specifies the following method:

1. Select a piece of instrumental music and to its accompaniment, the students reads a list of vocabulary words that he needs to memorize.
2. When he’s ready, he records himself together with the music.
3. The student then listens to the tape a few times, reading along with himself.
4. The student then listens only to the music tape and discovers that the series of words have become embedded in his mind together with the melody or beat of the music.
5. When the time is right, just a few bars of the piece will summon the vocabulary words for easy retrieval.

I was eager to try the exercise and, coincidentally, at our next meeting, Eitan came with his guitar. I asked him to accompany each word in our vocabulary list of 20 new words with a guitar chord.

My rationale was that focus on the sound would awaken his attention and help him to listen to the new word. (rather than passively hear music that had been pre-selected). I knew my student and that splitting his attention was a way to challenge him to make extra effort. It was a risk, considering he was quite tired, but worth a try.

This is what happened. Eitan chose a chord to go along with each word: accomplice, apathy, empower, and so on. He named the chord; I repeated it and then he stated the new word. Each time he’d re-play the chord with the word. This supreme effort of inventing the chord and remembering these totally new words lasted for five words.

Five words! I was thrilled. He remembered them all and co-operated even though he’d been exhausted! As Carol Goldfus, Dyslexic Counselor, reminds us: every successful effort of memory is something to celebrate.

What happened next was even more satisfying. He put aside his guitar and with an ease that I’d seldom seen in him previously at that hour of the day, he proceeded to work on the remainder of the list of 20 words and continued on for a total of thirty new words.

We took a short break, easing into lighter conversational work, which he needed for the upcoming English Oral Matriculation Exam. Then we went back to the list of vocabulary words. He had retained most of them, and with only a minor prompt from me was able to recall them all. The following week, I tested him on a few of the harder words and he remembered most of them.

My Observations
Music as an activating tool in the case of Eitan, who is musically attuned, is a successful method of assisting vocabulary acquisition. The exercise that we used, based on Nick Page’s model, was overly complex for most students, yet showed me the great potential of using music as a tool for reviving overall energy. The use of Eitan’s natural affinity for music helped him overcome his academic lethargy, and brought him to a level of keen focus.

Hunger for Listening

Once again, I offer a quotation from Nick Page: “The musical child develops a hunger for listening and learning equal to a hunger for nutrition.” (Page, 2002).

I decided to apply other forms of sound and rhythm to Eitan’s learning sessions. One such device involves voice chanting of a Zhi Neng formula used for brain balancing, Ling Yow.  (click for more information)

Ling yow chee chee chee

Jo ling bah

Ling yow chee chee chee

Jo ar ar su su

Eitan and I, together, chanted the ‘Ling yow’ on several occasions and felt a certain invigorating curiosity, delving into the unknown and waiting for ‘something’ to happen. How does it feel to balance one’s brain? The expectation alone acts as a catalyst for focus.

What we experienced was a sense of refreshment, and a desire to meet the challenge of remembering these Chinese numbers without referring to the printed words. Were our brains affected? My observation was that as an activity for transition and as a pick-me-up to refresh focus, the use of “ling yow’ is highly recommended! Eitan has continued to ask for “Ling yow’ as a warm-up before we begin the intensive language study required before his Matriculation this approaching summer.

Summary

Eitan, someone who has naturally gravitated to music as a method to calm himself, meditatively, is an example of a student with ADHD who has discovered that by integrating music into his school day, and beyond. He has been able to elevate his level of attention, through relaxing, and thereby enhance his long-term memory.

Let’s Be! June 14/18 last session

Let’s Be!

Let’s forget the promises of 45 minutes full-fledged meditation. The girls showed up with earnest desire to share what was on their minds.

There were four of us, due to a rumour spread by an unknown pupil that all the workshops that day had been cancelled.

Lucky for us!

We came round a table, a little snack food, something to drink, and lots to discuss.

Friendship and possessiveness – How to deal with jealousy when my friend is with someone else?

Making friends – If right away I can’t get along with someone, they often become my best friends!

Being an introvert or an extrovert or both – I like being an introvert- I like books.  I like being an extrovert, I like being kind of flirtatious. Me – I’m both and it’s hard!

Being issued ADD or ADHD and how it helps or not.  My 2 friends always talk at the same time and it helps that I have ADD – no problem at all listening.   

ADHD, I just can’t sit for long, I don’t have the ability!

Being smarter than others – I don’t have patience for all the time it takes in class for the others to understand. What’s so hard about it?

Feeling outside of things – I came to the school late. I don’t get all the references to past experiences.   I have always been here, and I feel different, but I can cope. 

Our pets and how they help us meditate (Maybe combine the dog-training workshop with the meditation workshop?) – When I feel sad, I just look at my dog’s face. Here, look! Who wouldn’t smile at that little face!

So many things to talk about. My role was to listen and offer advice when asked for it.

Like in this case about jealousy.
How do I deal with jealousy? When I don’t want my friend to speak admiringly of someone else? When I feel something eat at my heart.
Me: If you can catch the feeling of jealousy as it hits, there’s a chance to catch it in the bud. Apply humour, self-talk, recognition.
If it’s already full-blown and tears away at your soul, then that calls for sitting down in meditation, breathing and pinpointing the feeling, where it appears in the body. Allowing yourself to recognize it fully, then apply an image. How does it feel? What colour is it? Give it presence and give it identity. Name it! (Wilbert, for example). Realizing that it is an ‘it’ and not ‘me’ helps give distance, helps create space, helps us to cope with such an overpowering emotion.

We continued to speak, and then at the end of session bell, gently parted, thanking one another.
Until next year.

Acceptance or Denial

In my group of 8th grade girls, there are a few who are quite comfortable stating their quirks.

One announced that she’s ADHD and has trouble concentrating when others shift position on their cushions.

Another admitted that she can’t possibly refrain from stating what’s on her mind – that’s just how she is.

Another giggled that she’s full of anxieties and can’t keep still.

I know that we all have something inside that challenges us every day.

This is our laboratory

We are here to catch those very things as they happen: those things and thoughts that go on in our minds that we might be missing.

Lucky us!

“Great,” I say aloud. “We have material to work with.”

“Who here is taking a few minutes each day to notice their breath?” The same pupils. They don’t really know how to put their finger on it, but it’s making a difference. I reminded everyone that we have an opportunity here to build a habit. This is a lifelong tool that can be learned anytime. If not yesterday, then today. It’s never too late to start and it’s always a positive thing to do.

A look at ‘The Uninvited Party Guest’

I wanted to bring in the idea of feeling anger and what happens inside if we ignore it. I screened the ‘ Uninvited Party Guest’

We watched the clip from my iPad. I showed it straight through and then asked if someone could summarize it for us.

S did a good job of explaining how someone wanted to have a big party and invite all his friends. He didn’t want to invite his neighbour, however, who was annoying and stinky. The day of the party, his friends arrived. They ate, drank, laughed and it was fun. Soon, there was a knock on the door and the neighbour showed up, marched right it. He went to join the others and soon enough was annoying everyone. The party host asked the neighbour to leave.

The party continued. Soon, a knock on the door and the neighbour again marched right in. Same scenario, the host kicked him out. But this time, he was determined not to allow the neighbour to come in again and ruin the party, so he stood at the door on guard.  After a while, he saw all his guests outside, eating, drinking laughing all without him.

He decided to join them.

After a few minutes, the neighbour walked in. This time, the host decided to let things ride for a minute or two. What a surprise! His friends didn’t mind the neighbour, in fact they seemed to be laughing at his jokes.

Not so bad. Even the host found him to be bearable!

The girls understood.

How could we apply this to our lives? What does the neighbour represent?                                 Anger, Frustration.

What happens when we don’t acknowledge it, or let it in?                                                                We lose out. We’re busy all the time thinking about it.

What happens when we let it in?                                                                                                            We learn how to live with it. It’s not so bad.

Then we acted out the scenario. Y was the neighbour. S was the host. Everyone else played the party guests.

We understood.

Observation:  Role-playing is a good way to try out our real-life dilemmas. If the girls are brave enough to go there. I suggest a respectable cognitive distance from their most intimate situations and a look at more generic.

A few girls were starting to sleep.

This was the time for body attention

Standing circle to reawaken the body.

Copy the noise: The first person was to make a noise and everyone was to make the same noise. Our job was to imitate the noise and the pitch. We each took a turn leading and went round the circle. 

Copy the action: Then we each started an action. Each took the lead once and then again.

Back to our sitting circle

We sat down. Two girls were out of touch, disconnected.

We discussed the framework of our meetings, the topic for the next week: Nature. And then I mentioned that there was a serious problem that needed to be addressed.

A big Problem!

I knew that many were worried. Was I going to yell at the non-participants, at those who weren’t doing their homework?

I put them out of their misery. The problem was that we hadn’t been doing enough full body relaxations.

Ahhhh….said O, a special fan of the body scan.

Addressing the issue: Doing a Body Scan

I invited them to pick a mattress and lie down however they felt most comfortable. One girl was upset that she couldn’t have a certain bean bag chair and she (the one experiencing anxiety) decided to sit this one out.

Aside: My role as a mindfulness teacher is not a one-to-one therapist. If I took on that role, I’d have a number of after-class sessions with some of these girls. But as it is, my role is to give them all a chance to experience the Language of Attentiveness and come away with as positive experience as possible. One never knows when the knowledge of even one small technique will pop back into the consciousness to be of use.

We went through a body scan with dimmed lights and a gentle pace. Afterwards, I brought them back to ‘reality’ by mentioning that I’d soon be giving the signal to roll on their sides and notice if there’d be any change in their bodies.

I signalled.  After a few minutes, I signalled a transition to sitting. While they were adjusting I suggested that perhaps sometime during the day, they could remember the sensation of being at peace. They might use the sensation to notice their bodies and to disconnect from too much outer stimulation. To accept the fact that they could choose to center their attention on their bodies.

Then it was time to exit the space.

Observations: These girls want to learn. They want to be challenged. My job is to bring them reasons to stretch their brains and find positive feelings. If they like these short sessions of mindfulness, then they will want to experience them further.

In a world filled with deadlines and stress and peer pressure to belong, the ability to feel good when doing ‘nothing’ is a gift that all deserve, especially these teens transitioning into womanhood. I hope that this gift is something I can continue to offer.

Pre-Exam Mindfulness

Who: Grade 7 pupils.

What: A test based on what they’d studied in class. Some of them had been present during class sessions. Some of them had been off in a loop of unknown thought vacations.

I knew that the two-hour test would prove to be interesting.

How: Before we began, I brought out the Tibetan Singing Bowl. I held it and reminded them that mindfulness oxygenates the brain and helps them to concentrate.

We listened to the tone. Three times.

Tibetan Singing Bowl

And I reminded them to maintain the silence,  that if there were questions, simply to raise their hand and I’d come right over.  Silence was a way to offer respect to others who were trying to concentrate.

Upon finishing, they were to quietly stay in class and to respect others still working.

I sent the listening accommodation link to a select group who’d be able to hear the texts read to them through the magic of youtube video clips and their obliging teacher.

The exams were passed out.

 

Cover Page of our test

 

Silence was a blanket that kept us all warm and focused.

All except for Y, who had barely occupied his place in class for the past few months. I approached him half a dozen times to try to re-connect him to his exam, encouraging him to do the parts that were easy for him.

Y touched the page with a pen barely 8 times – 8 marks out of 100.

Y knows English but he doesn’t feel the desire to interrupt his progress in his favourite cellphone games. The few times he was able to disengage, he had this to say about the exam: ‘I don’t want to do it’ or ‘I don’t care’ about his resulting mark. 

This is the very child who could turn his life around with a little effort in mindfulness. He has a good mind but doesn’t apply it to classroom studies. Why does he come to class if he checks out almost immediately to re-enter his world of gaming?  What I observe is the same behaviour in all his classes, according to the reports of his mother and his homeroom teacher.  This is an intelligent child who only a few months ago, could be seen using his phone in order to listen to the exam texts, and with the self-discipline to write an exam.

I will be meeting with Y and his mother in a few weeks. Perhaps there’ll be an opportunity to turn ‘I don’t care’ into ‘This sounds interesting.’

As Simi Levy says – the role of the Mindfulness teacher is to “lead the concentration around by the nose. Don’t give it a chance to careen off into a side-street, which it will whenever given a chance.” Wise words. 

How many other students were off in dreamland? I applied first-aid as necessary, in the form of my presence, encouragement, guidance. Then, half-way through, I rang the bowl once more – inviting pupils to re-focus and breathe.

In such situations, the sound of the bowl and its vibrations offer the teacher a chance to reconnect to balance and a renewed ability to radiate calm attention to the pupils.

We teach by our presence.

Offering ourselves a moment of mindfulness is a gift to all. Being calmer, more open-hearted  offers comfort to others, whether they be in stress, or denial, or self-recrimination.

May we remember to offer ourselves the gift of mindfulness today and every day.