Is Your Child Struggling to Focus? Five Simple Observations That Reveal What is Really Going On
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
Lara Cawthra is a Paediatric Chiropractor and MNRI® Core Specialist who supports infants and children with gentle, neurologically focused care. She’s passionate about helping kids build strong foundations for movement, learning, and regulation while empowering parents every step of the way.
You know your child better than anyone. If something has been telling you that the difficulty they have with focus, attention, or learning is more than just a phase, you are probably right. As a paediatric chiropractor and neurodevelopment specialist with 30 years of experience working with children and families, one of the most common things I hear from parents is some version of the same sentence: “I just don’t know what’s going on with my child, they can’t seem to focus.”
"I know something is going on. But nobody has been able to tell me what, or what to do about it."
If that resonates with you, this article is for you. Before anyone reaches for a label or a diagnosis, before anyone decides what your child can or cannot do, there are some remarkably simple observations you can make at home or in the classroom that reveal a great deal about what is actually happening in your child's nervous system. None of them requires specialist equipment, none requires a clinical appointment, and none are pass or fail. They are simply information. Information is the first step toward actually being able to do something.
Why focus difficulties are rarely what they seem
When a child cannot focus, the instinct is understandably to look at the mind. Is it ADHD? Anxiety? A learning difficulty? These are all reasonable questions. But what is far less commonly asked is: what is happening in the body that might be making it harder for the brain to do its job?
After 30 years in practice, I can tell you that focus and attention difficulties almost never exist in isolation. They are almost always part of a wider pattern a pattern that, once you know what to look for, becomes remarkably consistent and recognisable.
That pattern often traces back to the nervous system, specifically to the way it has developed from birth, and whether certain foundational movement patterns, known as primitive reflexes, have fully integrated the way they should.
Before we get into the deeper science, let me show you what this looks like in practice. The five observations below are something any parent or teacher can do and what they reveal is extraordinary.
Five simple observations and what they tell us
Each of these observations takes less than two minutes. You can do them at home or share them with your child's teacher. What you are looking for is not perfection, you are looking for patterns.
1. Standing on one leg
Ask your child to stand on one leg for ten seconds, then swap sides. Observe whether they can hold it at all or topple quickly, and whether there is a significant difference between the left and right leg. Notice if their arms flail or if their whole body tenses up to compensate, and whether their eyes dart around searching for a fixed point to maintain balance.
What this tells us: Balance is a window directly into the cerebellum and vestibular system, two of the most important structures for sustained attention. A child who cannot balance well is a child whose brain is working overtime just to stay upright, leaving very little neurological capacity left for learning and focus. A retained Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex (TLR) or Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR) can show up clearly in this simple test.
2. Finger tapping in sequence
Ask your child to tap each finger to their thumb in order: little finger, ring finger, middle finger, index finger, and then back again. Have them do it with both hands simultaneously. Watch whether they can sequence the movement smoothly or get muddled. Notice if one hand struggles significantly more than the other, if their eyes follow their fingers the whole time instead of moving automatically, or if their tongue or facial muscles tense up with effort.
What this tells us: Sequential finger tapping requires both hemispheres of the brain to communicate efficiently across the corpus callosum. Difficulty here often points to challenges with bilateral integration, the brain's ability to coordinate left and right sides simultaneously. This same skill underpins reading, writing, and following multi-step instructions. It is also linked to retained hand and finger reflexes that should have integrated in early childhood.
3. Eye tracking, follow my finger
Hold a finger approximately 30 centimetres from your child's face and move it slowly left to right, up and down, and in a figure of eight. Ask them to follow it with their eyes only, keeping their head still. Observe whether their eyes move smoothly or jump and skip, whether they lose track at any point (usually around the midline), and whether their head moves instead of just the eyes.
What this tells us: Smooth, efficient eye tracking is essential for reading across a page and copying from a board. When the eyes jump or stall at the midline, it is almost always a sign that the two hemispheres of the brain are not communicating as efficiently as they should be. This directly impacts reading fluency, the ability to hold attention on written material, and the capacity to stay on task in the classroom.
4. Cross-pattern walking
Watch your child walk naturally or ask them to walk in a straight line toward you. Notice whether the opposite arm and leg swing together naturally (right arm with left leg, left arm with right leg), or if they walk with the same-side arm and leg moving together in a more rigid, soldier-like pattern. Also, observe whether their arms barely swing at all.
What this tells us: Cross-pattern movement is one of the most fundamental signs of neurological organisation. When the opposite arm and leg do not swing naturally together, it often indicates that the two hemispheres of the brain are not integrating efficiently. This has a direct and significant knock-on effect on focus, emotional regulation and learning stamina across the school day.
5. Pencil grip and posture at a desk
Ask a teacher to observe your child quietly during a writing task, without drawing attention to it. Watch for slumping, leaning heavily on the desk, or propping their head in their hand. Notice whether their pencil grip is tight, awkward, or uncomfortable, whether they tire quickly compared to peers, and whether they frequently lose their place on the page.
What this tells us: Poor posture and grip at a desk are almost never laziness or lack of effort, they are the nervous system compensating for poor core stability and retained reflexes. A child working this hard just to sit upright and hold a pencil has very little neurological energy left over for the actual learning. The effort they are expending to manage the physical demands of the desk is invisible to the teacher, but it is very real for the child.
What to do with what you find
Finding any or all of these patterns in your child does not mean something is wrong. It simply means their nervous system has developed in a particular way, and that development can be supported and changed. The brain is extraordinarily plastic, particularly in childhood. The right movement input, delivered consistently, can genuinely shift these patterns over time. This is not a life sentence — it is a starting point.
You are not looking for a single result. You are looking for patterns. When several of these observations point in the same direction, they create a neurological picture that guides where to focus support.
A note on retained primitive reflexes
Many of the patterns these observations reveal connect back to retained primitive reflexive automatic movement patterns that develop in the womb and should integrate into the nervous system in the first years of life. When they do not integrate fully, they continue to run in the background, quietly interfering with balance, coordination, attention, emotional regulation and learning. They are far more common than most people realise and far more responsive to the right support than most people are told.
What these observations mean in the classroom
One of the most important conversations I have with parents is about how these neurological patterns appear to teachers. They are almost always misinterpreted.
The child who cannot sit still is not being disruptive, their nervous system is seeking proprioceptive input, but it is not processing efficiently. The child who seems not to be trying with their writing is not lazy, they are working extraordinarily hard just to manage the physical demands of sitting at a desk, leaving little energy for the task itself. The child who stares out of the window is not daydreaming, their visual system may be struggling to track across a page or refocus between distances, making sustained reading genuinely effortful rather than automatic.
Understanding this changes everything for parents, teachers, and anyone working with children who are not reaching their potential. When we understand the neurological root of what we are seeing, we stop asking the child to try harder and start giving the nervous system what it actually needs.
A word about labels
Labels such as ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or autism are not the enemy. For many families, they bring relief, validation, and access to support. I do not dismiss their value.
However, a label describes a pattern of behaviour, it does not explain the neurological mechanism driving it. Without understanding the mechanism, it is very difficult to know where to direct support. The five observations in this article are not a diagnostic tool, they are a neurological lens. In my experience across 30 years and hundreds of children, beneath almost every focus or attention difficulty is a nervous system that has been working incredibly hard with tools that were never fully developed. This is not a failure, it is a starting point with enormous potential.
You know your child best and your instincts matter
If you have read this article and found yourself nodding, recognising your child in these observations, feeling that familiar mix of relief and “I knew it,” please trust that. Parents are the most important observers their child will ever have. Your consistency, knowledge of who your child is across every context, and willingness to keep asking questions are irreplaceable.
The science of neurodevelopment is giving us an increasingly clear picture of how the nervous system shapes everything from focus, learning, behaviour, emotional regulation, sleep, and even gut health. The more parents understand that picture, the more powerfully they can advocate for their children and support them at home.
That is exactly why I do what I do. It is why I want to share as much of this as I can, in language that is accessible, practical, and genuinely useful for real families.
Join the conversation, it is free, and you are very welcome
If this article has resonated with you, I invite you into a community I have created specifically for parents and practitioners who want to understand primitive reflexes, child development, gut health, and how these connect to the children we love and work with.
The Rebalance community on Skool is a free space for education, discussion, and connection. I post regularly, answer questions personally, and share clinically grounded, parent-friendly content, including free guides, checklists, and resources you can use straight away. It is warm, evidence-informed, and built entirely around one goal: helping children reach their potential by understanding the nervous system that shapes everything they do. Come and join us, we would love to have you.
Read more from Lara Cawthra
Lara Cawthra, Paediatric Chiropractor and MNRI Core Specialist
Lara Cawthra is a Paediatric Chiropractor and MNRI® Core Specialist who loves helping kids grow, move, and thrive. She works with babies, children, and their families, using gentle tonal chiropractic care and MNRI® techniques to support healthy neurological development. Lara has a particular interest in supporting children with developmental delays, sensory challenges, and neurodivergent needs, always focusing on what each child needs to feel safe, regulated, and confident in their body. Known for her warm, down-to-earth approach, Lara is passionate about empowering parents with knowledge and practical tools so they feel supported every step of the way.
