What is Arousal?

Arousal is the level of alertness that one possesses. When we are riding a roller coaster or watching a cricket match that has a nail-biting finish, our arousal level is high. At other times, mostly after lunch or a boring lecture, we fight with ourselves to stay awake, then our arousal is low. Either of these extremes are not helpful for learning. Learning, be it a task or academics, can be quick and efficient only when our alertness is 'somewhere in the middle'.

You guessed it right, our alertness do not stay the same throughout the day. It goes in a wave like pattern, increasing and decreasing at various times of the day. How does understanding this help a parent?

Good question! Identifying the level of arousal in a child with disability is the first step towards teaching. A child cannot learn when he is sleepy or jumping around. The first thing towards learning is to get the arousal to the optimum level. To begin with, lets try to find out which time of the day the child is most receptive to learning and use that period to teach him new concepts.