Processing Speed Introduction: What it is & What to Do

Processing speed involves one or more of the following functions: the amount of time it takes to perceive information (this can be through any of the senses ... IntroToProcessingSpeed Home GradeSchool IntroToProcessingSpeed IntroToProcessingSpeed ©iStockphoto|suksao999 ByEllenBraaten,PhDPostedin: GradeSchool,HotTopics Topics: Learning+AttentionIssues Thispostisthefirstinamulti-partseriesfromDr.BraatenentitledBrightKidsWhoCan’tKeepUp. Thenextarticlesintheseriesare: CopingWithSlowProcessingSpeedAtHomeAndAtSchool ProcessingSpeedinSocialRelationships Q+A:What’stheDifferenceBetweenSlowProcessingSpeedandOtherDisorders? *** Somekidsarenaturallyfast. Theyrun,talk,completehomeworkassignmentsanddoallsortsofthingsataratethatseemsappropriatefortheirage. Otherkidsdon’t,or,perhapsitwouldbefairertosaytheycan’t. Thesearekidswhomayhavewhatareknownasprocessingspeeddeficits. Inmyworkasachildpsychologistwhospecializesinpediatricneuropsychology,itseemsthatI’mevaluatingmoreandmorekidswithprocessingspeeddeficitseveryyear. Inconversationswithotherprofessionalsaroundthecountry,manytellmetheyareexperiencingthesametrend. Isthisarealincreaseinthepopulationatlarge? Isitanartifactofthetypesofcurriculumusedinourschools? Istoomuchvalueplacedonproductandnotenoughonexperiencingtheprocess? Or,doesitjustseemlikeabiggerproblembecausewhatwasonceregardedasabehavioraltraitisnowarealdisabilityinaworldinwhichquickprocessinghasbecomeamoreimportantnecessity? It’simpossibletoanswerthisquestionwiththedatawehavenow,butregardlessofthecause,theemotionaltollofhavingslowerprocessingspeedhassignificantconsequencesforchildren. Processingspeedinvolvesoneormoreofthefollowingfunctions:theamountoftimeittakestoperceiveinformation(thiscanbethroughanyofthesenses,butusuallythroughthevisualandauditorychannels),processinformationand/orformulateorenactaresponse. Anotherwaytodefineprocessingspeedistosaythatit’sthetimerequiredtoperformanintellectualtaskortheamountofworkthatcanbecompletedwithinacertainperiodoftime. Evenmoresimply,processingspeedcouldbedefinedashowlongittakestogetstuffdone. Becauseweplacesuchahighvalueondoingthingsquicklyinourculture,itcanbedifficulttolivewithanervoussystemthatneedsmoretimetoprocessinformation. Inaddition,mostofthekidsIseewhohaveprocessingspeedproblemshaveotherprimarydiagnosessuchasADHD,alearningdisability,orautismspectrumdisorder(ASD). However,oftenit’stheimpairedprocessingspeedthatcaneventuallybeoneofthemorechallengingproblemsinachild’sprofile. Infact,perhapsthemostdifficultquestionparentsaskmeis,“Whatexactlyisprocessingspeed,andisthereanywaytofixit?” Theshortanswertothatquestionis,“It’scomplicatedandwedon’tknowhowtofixit.” It’scomplicatedbecausethereisnosingleregionofthebrainthatisresponsiblefortheprimaryproblemwithprocessingspeed;rather,one’sabilitytoprocessinformationinvolvesacomplexnetworkofdifferentpartsofthebrain,anyorallofwhichmayresultinslowerspeedofprocessing. Regardlessofthereasonsforthedeficit,therealworldimpairmentsaresignificant. InthestudiesdoneattheLearningandEmotionalAssessmentProgram(LEAP)atMassGeneral,wehavefoundthat: Boysaremoreaffectedbyprocessingspeeddeficitsthangirls(70%ofthechildrenwithsignificantprocessingspeeddeficitswereboys). Whenyouconsiderthatmanyexpertshavearguedthatthetypicalelementaryschoolclassroomisalreadystructuredheavilytofavorthelearningstyleofgirls,thispresentsmanyboyswithanevergreaterchallengethanmostteachersrealize. Socialdifficultiesarecommoninabout1/3ofthechildrenwithprocessingspeeddeficits,andthesesocialdifficultiesarenotjustlimitedtokidswhoalsohaveASD-relateddiagnoses. Languageimpairmentswerereportedinabout40%ofthechildren. Thevastmajorityofthechildrenwithprocessingspeeddeficits(77%)werecurrentlyreceivingservicesunderanIEPor504plan,whichindicatesthelevelofimpactthishasonacademicfunctioning. HavingaprocessingspeeddeficitisnotthesameashavingADHD,asonly61%ofthekidswithADHDalsohadprocessingspeeddeficits(ascomparedtotheirage-matchedpeers). Significantnumbersofchildrenwithotherdiagnosesalsopresentwiththisprofile,mostfrequently:readingdisorder(28%ofthesample),mathdisorder(20%),generalizedanxietydisorder(20%),autismspectrumdisorder(17%)anddisorderofwrittenexpression(15%). Giventhatthecausesandco-morbiddiagnosesaresovaried,whatcanberecommended?InourbookBrightKidsWhoCan’tKeepUp, mycolleagueandIdescribehowtoputintopracticetheThreeA’sofProcessingSpeed:accepting achild’suniquelearningstyle,helpinghimorhertoaccommodateanylearningchallengesandadvocatingforachild’sneed. Eventually,achildalsoneedstointegratethese“A’s”bybetterunderstandinghisuniquequalitiesandacceptingthosequalitiesasbeinganimportantandvaluablepartofwhoheis,learningtomakeaccommodationsforhimselfandadvocatingforhimselfinschoolandworkenvironments. Intermsofacceptance,thefirststepistohelpparentsandchildrenacknowledgethatthereisaproblem. Oftentimes,acomprehensiveevaluationiswhat’snecessarytoseeconcretelywheretheprocessingspeeddeficitsfallincomparisontootherareasofcognition. Processingspeeddeficitshavesignificanteffectsonlifeathome,socialrelationshipsandschoolfunctioning. Thequickerparentsandkidsrecognizetheseproblems,thequickertheycanbeaddressed. Forexample,athome,timespentdoinghomeworkisfrequentlythemostcommonlyreportedproblem,andadmittingthatit’saproblemcanbethefirststepinfindinganappropriateschool-basedaccommodationsuchasareducehomeworkload.Intermsofaccommodationsathome,keepingtheenvironmentstructuredandpredictableisassociatedwithbetterfunctioning. Inanyenvironment,changingtherateofspeaking,assistingintimemanagementandusingbothverbalandvisualcuesarerecommendedstrategies. Advocatingcanbetrickyforparents,butit’simportantthattheyserveasadvocatesbecausetheirchildrenareoftendescribedas“lazy,”“unmotivated,”or“notsmart”byteachersandevenotherfamilymembers. Teachingfamilymembersandteachersaboutachild’scognitiveprofilecanbeoneofthemostimportantrolesaparenthas,particularlywheniteventuallyincludesteachingachildhowtoadvocateforhimorherself. Manypeopleintoday’sfast-pacedworlddon’tunderstandwhykidswithslowerprocessingactthewaythattheydo. Theydon’tunderstandwhysomeonecan’tjustpickupthepace. Thiscanmakeitevenmoredifficultforkidswhohaveemotionaldifficulties,suchasdepressionandanxiety. Therelationshipbetweenprocessingspeedandemotionaldifficultiesislikelysomewhatbi-directional,andcanbecomeaviciouscycleformanychildren. Thus,childrenwithslowprocessingspeedareatriskforlowerself-esteem,depressionandanxiety—andiftheseemotionaldifficultiesarise,theyslowdownchildrenevenfurther. Ourworldhasbecomemorefast-pacedthanever. Inordertobesuccessfulintoday’sclassrooms,achildneedstobeabletoprocessalargeamountofinformationquickly,andbeabletoshiftbackandforthbetweendifferenttypesoftasks. Althoughexperiencedasaveryrealdeficitbythesekids,it’simportanttonotethatthereisavaluableplaceforkidswithslowerprocessingspeedwithinourworld. Infact,onecouldarguethatmuchoftheworld’sprogresshasbeenmadebydeep,slowthinkers. Whetheritbeininnovation,art,orliterature,manyofourmosttreasuredworkswerelikelycompletedbygiftedindividualswhoworkedattheirownpace. Thoseofuswhoworkwiththesechildrenneedtohelpthemlearntoembracetheirchallengeswhileworkingwiththesystemsinwhichtheylivetobetterunderstandthem. Otherwise,werisklosingmuchofthevaluethesedeep,slowerthinkersandproducersbringtotheall-too-quickandsuperficialworldinwhichwelive. ThanksforvisitingtheClayCenter.Weareentirelyfundedbyvisitorslikeyou.WereceivenofinancialsupportfromMassachusettsGeneralHospitalorHarvardMedicalSchool.Yoursupportofourworkhelpsustocontinuetoproducecontentonmentalhealthtopicsthatsupporttheemotionalwell-beingofyoungpeopleeverywhere. ShareonSocialMedia Share Tweet Wasthisposthelpful? Letusknowifyoulikedthepost.That’stheonlywaywecanimprove. Yes 76 No 8 EllenBraaten,PhD EllenBraaten,PhD,isexecutivedirectoroftheLearningandEmotionalAssessmentProgram(LEAP)at MassachusettsGeneralHospital(MGH),anassociateprofessorofpsychologyatHarvardMedicalSchool,andformerco-directorfortheMGHClayCente... Toreadfullbioclickhere. RelatedPosts EllenBraaten,PhD ProcessingSpeedinSocialRelationships ReadArticle EllenBraaten,PhD CopingWithSlowProcessingSpeedAtHomeAndAtSchool ReadArticle EllenBraaten,PhD Q+A:What’stheDifferenceBetweenSlowProcessingandOtherDisorders? 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