Disclosure The individual presenters are representatives of their respective organizations and are solely responsible for the content of their presentations. The sessions are intended as general public education and are not a substitute for accessing and consulting with child health services. Boys and Girls Learn Differently A Workshop Presented by Michael Reist typical boy typical girl Gender Spectrum 1
Learning and Behaviour Disorders Last year, more than two million prescriptions for Ritalin and other ADHD drugs were written specifically for children under 17, and at least 75 per cent of them were for young males. Globe and Mail 2010 The pathologizing of normal boy behaviour Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital 1957-1985 Ontario Crippled Children's Centre Founded in 1899 Home for Incurable Children 2
Neurodiversity Leonard Sax The boy who threw the spear Left brain Right brain Frontal lobe Pre-frontal cortex 3
Behaviour making poor choices Overstimulation Frontal lobe and prefrontal cortex Impulse control Executive functioning Self-monitoring Self-regulation Mirroring 4
Low self-monitors are guided by their traits high self-monitors are guided by situations. Executive functioning Materials management Clean your room First, second, third Attitudes Toward Boys The toxic boy syndrome Institutional decorum Immaturity of boys relative to girls 5
Three fundamental differences between boys and girls One There can be up to a year and a half difference in the biological and cognitive development between boys and girls The December-born boy beside the January-born girl 6
Boys who were born in December were 30% more likely to receive a diagnosis of ADHD than boys born in January. Boys were 41% more likely to be given a prescription for a medication to treat ADHD if they were born in December than if they were born in January. Canadian Medical Association Journal, March 5, 2012 Literacy Testing 1 1/2 years difference between boys and girls standardized testing does not take this difference into account boys will always be behind TWO Boys love movement and space Fine motor Gross motor Graphomotor 7
Fine motor Graphomotor Gross motor Sensory Processing Taste Touch Sight Smell Hearing Proprioceptive sense Vestibular sense Interoceptive sense The head, hands and feet have the most complex functions and thus produce the most sensations. Similarly, large portions of the motor cortex are devoted to sending messages to direct the functions of the fingers, hands, feet, tongue and throat. The Out of Sync Child Carol Kranowitz and Lucy Jane Miller 8
Sensory Processing Exercises Water play Sand play Touching different textures Massaging hands and feet Rubbing the back Wrestling/horseplay/roughhousing/play fighting Bear hugs Spinning Rolling Hopping Somersaulting Rocking Jumping Swinging Balancing on a board or ball Running Stretching Lifting Pushing Pulling Hanging by the arms Extension and flexion of joints What should the limits be? 1 hour at a sitting 2 hours for every 5 hours of free time THREE Girls: WORDS Boys: ACTION 7,000 20,000 What do you do when you see a snake? 9
Attention span = age in minutes re-directing cueing Aggression nurturance The male hug Michael Gurian Rough and tumble play teaches resilience and self-regulation Pellis and Pellis 10
A.D.D. / A.D.H.D. 3 criteria: distractibility impulsivity hyperactivity too much language not enough movement and space expressing feelings ADHD Traits Re-defined Negative Trait Distractible Impulsive Hyperactive Positive Trait Curious Spontaneous Energetic Most normal people suffer from Attention Surplus Disorder (paying too much attention to things that don t matter) Edward M. Hallowell Receptive Language.Expressive Language 11
Boys and Language Processing 3 Steps When talking to a male, be sensitive to their rate of 1. reception (the time they need to process what you re saying) 2. cognitive processing (the time they need to think it over) 3. expression (the time they need to turn their thoughts into words) The slow language processor Boys and Listening boys do not hear as well as girls boys are not as good at discriminating between foreground and background noise boys are flooded by repetitive verbal stimulation (saying the same thing 5 different ways) boys have a surge protector and will shut down when over-loaded (stop hearing) 12
zoning out Girls are better at Male brain = computer Cueing Visual Verbal Tactile 13
Boys prefer one task at a time one instruction at a time 14
Boys do not transition between tasks as well as girls do give warnings allow for delays mental rehearsal 15
Boys prefer to deal in the immediate moment but it s not due tomorrow chunking Girls: Hearing Words Tone of voice Fine Boys: Vision Eye contact Windows Just because he s not looking at you. Hormones Behaviour and Learning 16
Female Hormones Estrogen: promotes co-operation lowers aggression, competition, self-assertion Oxytocin: promotes the desire for bonding, connection, touch Serotonin: greater impulse control Male Hormone: Testosterone males have 10 times as much testosterone as females males experience 6 or 7 testosterone surges per day levels increase by up to 150% testosterone levels rise when males feel threatened Testosterone fuels aggression competition self-assertion self-reliance movement concreteness spatial awareness 17
Disciplining A Boy (communicating with a stressed male) Sit down! (movement) Stand close (space) Look at me! (eye contact) Tell me what happened! (words) Give time Give space The life path of a girl The life path of a boy 18
The Highly Sensitive Child introvert extrovert shy Developmental differences are not learning disabilities Gender differences are not learning disabilities 3 Foundations of Core Self-Esteem To be seen To be listened to To be touched For who you really are No matter what you say With nurturing affection 19
Children and Flowers Community Education Service For more information or to register for an upcoming education session, visit our website: http://community.hmhc.ca/ Evaluation forms and Telehealth/Audioline Sign-In sheets can be sent to: ces@ahs.ca or Fax: 403-955-8184 or Interoffice Mail: CES, RRDTC 20