My kid is slow to pick up on new things and terrible at retaining info

[Anonymous]

I have two kids. DC1 was very hyperactive and defiant, diagnosed with ADHD hyperactive. DC1 never struggled academically, was quick to learn, and is categorically "bright". DC1 has never been forgetful, absent-minded, or spacey.

DC 2 was not hyperactive or defiant at home, but remarkably absent-minded. DC2 is 8 and to me, seems to be slow to learn rules to a board game, or surprisingly bad an remembering things like the order of the months or how much various coins are worth. He learns them, but then forgets quickly. The beginning of the school year is always difficult because he seems to lose so much knowledge over the summer months. He had a full neuropsych evaluation and was diagnosed with ADHD combined (his teachers consider him hyperactive at school but we do not feel that he is at home, perhaps because in our eyes he was always less so than DC1). I specifically asked at the evaluation about other learning deficits or challenges and they insisted he has none, and indicated that he performed well on all of the tests. He reads well and seems okay at math. His teachers do not seem worried about anything academically. As his parent, though, I just feel that he seems to miss a lot, seems spacey, absent-minded, forgetful. I realize that is ADHD, but could it be something else, too? Or is it just because DC1 presents so differently that I am having trouble wrapping my head around this being just a variation in ADHD? I just wonder what else-- if anything-- I should be considering.

[Anonymous]

Seizures potentially. Have you been to neurology yet?

[Anonymous]

What was his processing speed? Would have been a subtest on wisc, so likely included in the full neuropsych.

[Anonymous]

My DD has combined ADHD and sounds similar. She learned her ABCs and counting much later than normal because she just couldn’t remember the order of things. It was like she was relearning it each time. Our neuropsych report talked a lot about her ADHD affecting automaticity which is the ability to learn through repetition and incorporate something so that is becomes automatic and easily accessed information.

I would also wonder about processing speed or working memory but I’m assuming those were tested and were in normal range for your DC.

[Anonymous]

Performance inconsistency is very common among people with ADHD. It is related to how effectively they can regulate their nervous system at a given time.
So it takes time to understand what environment stimuli are causing them not to focus. Once the tiggers are pointed out you can then work on strategies to help their nervous system calm down.
Ex: they can concentrate because it’s too noisy. Try using some noose canceling headphones.
Can’t concentrate because they are hungry?. Then eat at snack.
Can’t concentrate because their body needs to move? Take a movement break.
Takes time but the right OT can help finding out the stressors and tech them strategies.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like low Working memory and processing speed.

[Anonymous]

We have a DC like this, diagnosed with mild dyslexia, dyscalculia and ADHD. Average working memory and 99 percentile processing speed.

How old is your child? For our DC, dyslexia was difficult to detect in early elementary and dyscalculia didn’t emerge on testing until middle school.

[Anonymous]

If the school did the testing get a private eval, including IQ, and receptive/expressive language tests. You may be looking at a processing issue. That kind of learner would do best with a different curriculum than what’s typically offered in school. So you’d need to fight for new curriculum in an IEP or find an alternative placement. You might also need ESY for retention or additional support at home year round. I’d also eliminate medical concerns- hearing, vision, seizures, nutritional concerns, as well as nutritional concerns. Also I’d send a private consultant in to observe the classroom and look for environmental concerns or other issues.

[Anonymous]

My kid with inattentive ADHD and low processing speed has trouble with memorization. I’m surprised the neuropsych didn’t give you more info. She is in 8th grade now and would still struggle with telling you the months of the year in order.

One of the things the neuropsych made clear is that she remembers things with all the context (like a story) better than symbols (like math). As an 8th grader, I help her with studying and try to give her a lot more of a story to remember. So, she was learning about American revolution people last night. I told her “extra stories” - like remember Ben Franklin was the guy in Paris whooping it up and partying, etc. She came home from studying math with a friend last week and they had made up a cheer to help them remember a math formula. I make up songs with her for school stuff also. If you really dig into the details of the neuropsych, it may help you strategize.

FWIW, her IQ is 110 so we aren’t dealing with any intellectual disability. She manages to get all As in middle school, but I feel like I have a 20 hour a week middle school tutoring job. And I already work about 50 hours a week at my real job. I’m exhausted.

[Anonymous]

And let me add — our kids really don’t need to know what coins are worth. They will operate in a cashless world. I realize this is just an example, but don’t waste time on the little things that won’t matter. Focus on the bigger picture of strategies for the things that do matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Performance inconsistency is very common among people with ADHD. It is related to how effectively they can regulate their nervous system at a given time.
So it takes time to understand what environment stimuli are causing them not to focus. Once the tiggers are pointed out you can then work on strategies to help their nervous system calm down.
Ex: they can concentrate because it’s too noisy. Try using some noose canceling headphones.
Can’t concentrate because they are hungry?. Then eat at snack.
Can’t concentrate because their body needs to move? Take a movement break.
Takes time but the right OT can help finding out the stressors and tech them strategies.

I wish I had read this post 15 years ago. DD is 19, in college and doing well, but it took a very, very long time for us to figure out what you just articulated in a couple of sentences.

[Anonymous]

Good advice above. My first thought was processing speed or slow auditory processing. I have two kids with slow auditory processing, so the degree to which they can use visual cues or supplement with written directions is helpful. But first, have you had their hearing screened? If not I would start there.

[Anonymous]

Working memory—required to cognitively process things for long-term memory and to retrieve items from long-term memory—is a function of attention. It’s not uncommon for ADHD students to have memory challenges.

Repetition, spiraling back to old topics, and using visual reminders are all key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid with inattentive ADHD and low processing speed has trouble with memorization. I’m surprised the neuropsych didn’t give you more info. She is in 8th grade now and would still struggle with telling you the months of the year in order.

One of the things the neuropsych made clear is that she remembers things with all the context (like a story) better than symbols (like math). As an 8th grader, I help her with studying and try to give her a lot more of a story to remember. So, she was learning about American revolution people last night. I told her “extra stories” - like remember Ben Franklin was the guy in Paris whooping it up and partying, etc. She came home from studying math with a friend last week and they had made up a cheer to help them remember a math formula. I make up songs with her for school stuff also. If you really dig into the details of the neuropsych, it may help you strategize.

FWIW, her IQ is 110 so we aren’t dealing with any intellectual disability. She manages to get all As in middle school, but I feel like I have a 20 hour a week middle school tutoring job. And I already work about 50 hours a week at my real job. I’m exhausted.

This sounds just like my 8th grade DS; I think I’ll try to adapt some of those strategies