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Title: Special Needs: Time Concepts

When Your Internal Clock is "Broken"

Many children who struggle with learning challenges lack an internal sense of time and its passage. When these children are involved in an activity they enjoy, time genuinely seems to pass by quickly. For less engaging tasks the minutes seem to drag on with frustrating slowness.
There are children whose internal clocks are fairly well regulated. This enables them to adapt easily to a schedule, and they have a good sense about how much time has passed during any given activity. Children who lack this internal regulation are more in need of external scheduling assistance and reminders about the amount of time that is allotted for various tasks.
My own son, Josh, does not have an accurate sense of time passing, and is dependant on clocks, watches, and timers to help him manage his time. Although he is a teenager now, when he was younger the concept of time was extremely difficult for him to grasp. When we would take a fifteen minute break during school time, he would become so involved in his Lego� creations or drawings that he was genuinely astonished when I would announce that his break time was over. The expression on his face told me that he secretly suspected I had reset all the clocks just to end his fun!
Likewise, my daughter, Beckie, has difficulty predicting how long it will take to complete a task. For more challenging subjects such as math, she often predicts that completing twenty problems will take her �hours� when in fact she can complete the assignment in much less time than she predicts.
Both Josh and Beckie fail to realize the amount of time that is wasted as they dawdle over a task or procrastinate about getting started on their work. It�s as though time passage is not constant for them, it varies depending on the degree of enjoyment or amount of effort they anticipate expending.
Helping children develop a sense of time will help them in many life skills in addition to their academic work. There are a number of ways to build awareness of time into daily routines. Through repeated exposure and repetition, children can begin to recognize and become aware of time passage in meaningful ways.
Timers are readily available and easily portable for use in every room in the house. Verbally state the amount of time allotted, and set the timer so that the child can see it. When the time is up, remind the child of how long a period of time just passed. This will help him to begin to recognize the difference between a five-minute interval and a thirty-minute interval, for example. In our house, we use a visual timer that has a red display showing the amount of time set. As time passes, the red display disappears. This has been very helpful for my children, since they can actually see that time is passing and how much time is left before an activity needs to be completed.
Incorporate the mention of specific time periods throughout the day, rather than the more vague �in awhile� or �later� types of descriptions. This can be as simple as �We made it through our grocery shopping in 50 minutes today. That�s a little less than one hour� or �You read that chapter in just 15 minutes.� Math drills are often timed in two to five minute intervals, which can also help children develop a sense for those time intervals.
Have the child predict how long she thinks a job might take, then time it to help her realize the actual time involved. For children who know how to tell time, getting into the habit of wearing a watch for quick reference can be helpful. Choosing a watch that has a face and actual hands that move seems to be more meaningful for children than a digital watch with just a number display.
Try using a visual schedule, showing the events of the day and the sequence in which they will occur. A picture schedule or written description will help the child see the order in which events should take place as well as the amount of activities to be completed each day.
Developing a sense of the passage of time comes more naturally for some children than others. Patience, repetition, direct teaching of time concepts, and external reminders such as visual schedules and timers will help children learn � in time!

Galatians 6:9 � And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.

I invite you to use any articles in your publication or website. All I ask is that you notify me of its use and include the following byline with the article ...

Melinda L. Boring is a speech therapist, author, workshop presenter, speaker, wife, mother, homeschooler, and president of Heads Up! (www.HeadsUpNow.com); Her goal is to present concepts, ideas, techniques and materials to help parents and teachers who work with special needs children, especially those who struggle with ADD/ADHD.

To request an article on a specific topic or submit a question for the Q & A section, you may contact Melinda by email: info@headsupnow.com. Unless otherwise specified, all questions may be answered and posted on this website.

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