ABSTRACT
A child’s ability to listen, and to attend to what is happening and to what is being said, is a fundamental part of being able to respond appropriately to both verbal and non-verbal information. There are an enormous number of reasons why a child will find developing these skills difficult; however, the following structure, based on the well-known model by Cooper et al (1978), is very useful in identifying the child’s developmental stage for attention control. By comparing this with the child’s stage of development for his understanding and expression, it helps to indicate whether the child has a specific difficulty in this area or whether the child’s level of attention is what you would expect for his overall stage of development.
