Learning Differences, part 4: Slow processing and executive functioning

Editor's note: Fourth in an eight-part series. Slow processing is one of many poorly recognized learning differences. It has long been measured as part of IQ assessment. However, it wasn't given much attention until recently. In "Bright Kids Who Can't Keep Up: Help Your Child Overcome Slow Processing Speed and Succeed in a Fast-Paced World," PhDs Ellen Braaten and Brian Willoughby review both how to help and what we know about children who struggle with slow processing speed. To simplify greatly, these kids may be very smart, but they move and think slowly. They need extra time to process thoughts, respond in conversation, retrieve information for a task and many other functions. It's like the wiring in their brain is good, but the signals travel slowly. This can have huge effects on home life, social life, family relationships and learning needs. If you think you might have one of these kids, give "Bright Kids Who Can't Keep Up" a good look, and consider a full educational assessment for your child. Slow processing speed is often found with other learning and behavior differences such as ADD. If this seems like your kid, try to think of them as a thoughtful, deep thinker, about everything. Another common developmental issue that affects learning is Executive Function Skill. As your kids get older, you'll hear this phrase tossed around and it's worth knowing what it means. From the team at Understood.org: "Executive function is a set of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. We use these skills every day to learn, work, and manage daily life. Trouble with executive function can make it hard to focus, follow directions, and handle emotions, among other things." These are functions of the frontal lobe of the brain, which has been shown to be still maturing when people are in their 20s. Many, but not all kids, with learning differences have some difficulty with executive function skills. Perhaps you have more than one child. Perhaps you have noticed that one kid learned fairly quickly how to set the table for dinner. Perhaps your other child still needs coaching and micromanagement through the entire process. What you may be seeing is differences in executive function skills. One child can learn the task, hold all the steps together in their head, sequence them, modify for the addition of a dinner guest, develop better placement of dinnerware over time, and get it all done in a reasonable time frame … grumpily or not. Child number two may start dancing with the utensils on the way to the table and forget what they are doing. Once reminded, they will decide to set the utensils in a special way. Creative? Yes, but slooow. And once done with the utensils, they will happily go upstairs to find a Lego creation they want to show you. They will not realize the plates, napkins and water cups are missing. This is a child who has made a genuine attempt at setting the table but whose mind has difficulty holding onto and organizing all the elements of the task. Can this child learn to set the table? Yes, but they are going to need a lot more coaching and repetition before they master it. Can this child use all the dinnerware? Yes, even though they have trouble setting them all. This same child might read just fine but have difficulty remembering all the rules of writing a sentence. Capitalization, punctuation, subject, verb, tense, between the lines, spacing on the page, content. (Yes, I know that is a fragment and not a complete sentence.) If you suspect your child is a late bloomer in executive function skills, then make sure any psycho-educational assessment they receive includes evaluation of these skills. It will help you understand your kid better. Furthermore, teaching interventions that address executive function skills can be important to your child's progress. Next week: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) Kathleen Cawley is a physician assistant and author. She is a regular guest columnist for the Auburn Journal, where she writes on parenting and childhood. Her books, "Navigating the Shock of Parenthood: Warty Truths and Modern Practicalities — from a mom with twins," and "Grandma Becky's Blue Tongue," a children's picture book, are available where books are sold.