Babies have the natural ability to shift the focus of their attention. The shift can be from one object to another, or one sense to another or even from focusing internally to focusing externally. Internal focus gives them the ability to gather information about how they experience and feel an action. External focus gives them information about the environment, whether it is the surface they are on, mom’s face, or the music they hear. Being able to shift attention is imperative for learning. Enhancing this skill is a big component of Anat Baniel Method or Feldenkrais work. Learning increases exponentially with increased ability to focus on how it “felt” to do something. It’s important to focus long enough to notice the details which will make it possible to create the experience again.
Many children with special needs have a disruption in their ability to shift attention. What we think of as multi-tasking is the ability to very quickly shift between more than one thing. If this process happens too quickly a child won’t dwell long enough to take in enough information to process and learn as in attention deficit disorder. If it does not happen enough children will not be aware of anything except for what they are intensely focused on. A child with autism might not be able to shift attention away from a toy, or a baby with internal discomfort might not be able to shift to receiving external information from the world around them.
A healthy brain will be able to prioritize incoming information, to choose which things to attend to in the moment. When you drive down the road, if you spent as much time seeing the flowers and the houses going by as you do the road you wouldn’t last long. You pay attention to the cars around you, signs and signals and the roadway as a priority. The ability to prioritize is one of the things that can deteriorate with age and which is missing in Autism and Autism Spectrum disorders. Brains can improve this skill through improving the timing of shifting attention, and through noticing greater distinctions. Dr. Merzenich’s computer programs for adults and children create that experience. So do ABM practitioners.
Here’s a video that intrigues me. In 2 minutes you can see 4 hrs of baby activity. Notice how frequently this child shifts attention. The world is explored with hands, feet, mouth and body. Toys are not the only experience. Watch how the chair, the cardboard box, the shelves even the wall are part of his experience.
Neil Sharp hosted a wonderful Sunday afternoon in San Francisco this weekend and it gave me the chance to meet another mom. Our talks reminded me the impact reading 
As a neuromovement specialist I know that the first thing we encounter at birth is gravity. We, as humans, then go through a long apprenticeship learning to manage gravity. Most people keep improving their skills up to about 5 years old. Sadly, many stop there. Enrolling in sports is one way to continue that process. One of the things people gain when they work with me is an improved sense of how to use gravity. Some people are more challenged with this than others. Adults with stroke, back injuries, etc. may have to “relearn” what they discovered as children. With children with special needs it is one of the primary things they learn that will really change their lives. I encourage my clients to create a rich environment to continue learning outside of lessons with me with a focus on managing gravity. There’s lots of things you can do that enhance the apprenticeship in gravity for small babies, toddlers, children, athletes, those with injuries, and seniors.
My son loved the water from an early age. I think it was that weightless feeling and the freedom to move. He also loved the chaos and crowd feeling being in the middle of all the splashing, yelling, and jumping. Water is kind of an equalizer. With just a little help to make sure he stayed afloat he could join in the fun. We started with a typical baby float with the ring and sling seat. I used inflated water wings tucked around him to make sure he wouldn’t tilt out of position. We had a brief period using an adapted head 
float. That was great for giving him full body freedom to move. Once the baby seat and head float became to small we went to a child’s inflatable ring around his chest. It seemed a little unstable so we added the inflatable water wings on his arms to give him ballast to the sides. I was starting to stress about finding a ring in the next size when Don’s dad suggested he just try the water wings alone. Don would need to manage how low he was in the water by the height he held his arms with the wings. That was a big chunk of learning for him. I didn’t think it was going to work, but they both proved me wrong.
Don learned to keep his arms down and was good at managing the splashing against his face. One of the things I have learned is that when Don really wants to do something he makes it happen. As an adult he loves to swim. Getting in the pool is easy – he just jumps from a seated position on the side and his water wings (adult size now) pop him right back up to the surface. Getting out of the pool is a bigger challenge these days. He’s taller than me! I’ll write more about what we’ve tried to solve the exit problem in 
You can find water wings, infant seats and swim rings at most grocery stores, drugs stores or places like Target. For adapted swim equipment try: