Why Accepting Intrinsic Motivation Is Essential to Educating Our Differently Wired Learners

By Teresa Currivan, LMFT, Parent Coach

Differently wired children who struggle in school, whether it is academically or socially, often look like they do not want to learn. Adults are often confused until they understand how much a child’s intrinsic drive to learn is key to their success, both academically and socially. 

Why Is Intrinsic Motivation So Important?

Just as most differently tuned-in children will not eat something they do not choose (no matter how hard you bribe them!), many of us have found that they do not learn well if they cannot choose what, how, and when. They resist learning if it feels forced on them. This knowledge is often missing among those who subscribe to traditional schooling methods, and it is the reason that so many children are unhappy and failing in school. 

Our strong-willed children have a built-in protective mechanism that prevents them from willingly accepting learning methods and topics that are an inappropriate fit for them. This often leads to behavior problems when they refuse to turn in homework, sit still, or do rote exercises. 

Strong-willed or not, imposing inappropriate learning methods can result in a child with low self-esteem, severed relationships, depression, anger, and anxiety. They can look like they don’t care about learning anymore, even the subjects they once loved. For some students, this internal backlash doesn’t reveal itself until they are an adult. Some parents of differently wired students find this to be true for themselves in hindsight as they learn about their own children. 

©2020 Teresa Currivan

If you would like learn more about intrinsic motivation and other topics related to differently tuned-in learners, you can read Teresa’s book, My Differently Tuned-In Child: The Right Place for Strength-Based Solutions. Click here to purchase it on Amazon. (It is also available at other booksellers.)

Teresa Currivan, LMFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist, parent coach, school therapist, and founder of The Right Place Learning Center and Help My Child Thrive LLC. She is the author of My Differently Tuned-In Child: The Right Place for Strength-Based Solutions. She speaks about differently wired children to teachers, faculty, and parent groups, and has published extensively on this topic. Teresa is recognized for developing the Currivan Protocol™ used to assess, address, and accept symptoms and co-occurring conditions in differently wired children such as ADHD, giftedness, visual-spatial learning, dyslexia, Sensory Processing Disorder, autism, executive functioning challenges, school refusal, depression, and anxiety. She received her MA in Counseling Psychology using Drama Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and completed post-graduate training at The Psychotherapy Institute in Berkeley, California. 

**Teresa offers coaching and assessments by video call. Fill in the form below (or email her) to schedule your free 20-minute consultation by phone or video call.**

Email: TeresaCurrivan@gmail.com