what has helped your kid with high IQ, very low processing speed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of great suggestions-med eval (if not already done), strategies, etc. I have a more controversial suggestion. Don't make the same academic demands you would if the IQ were high and there were no processing speed issues. I would keep course-load reasonable and lower stress level as you work to find right meds and strategies. See where the teen blooms. Sometimes the disability isn't so pronounced in areas of strong interest.

So, if your child bloom in science and math, those are the areas where you can experiment with honors and AP or if it's in English, experiment there. Parents worry their kid will be bored if not challenged enough and they seek advice from parents of high IQ kids who don't have disabilities and usually that advice is a mistake. They forget their child could also be crushed if the disability keeps them from meeting demands.

You have to find the sweet spot where your teen is enjoying learning, gently pushed in areas of interest and strength, but well accommodated in areas with less interest where the disability is more glaring.

I agree and would consider a change to a school with a lower workload. It just becomes untenable for a kid with slow processing speed to do the crushing volume of work as high school ramps up. My son sounds a little like your child, very bright, and it was so hard for him in HS because he wanted to take the most difficult classes, but it was too much when the work took three times as long. It made him frustrated and contributed to mental health problems.

He is doing much better in college where he only has to manage four classes and there is a lot more time to do the work. Also, some subjects are well suited to his processing speed: he is studying geology and is exceptional at close observation and identifying tiny differences in patterns. It’s not all bad, in other words, just s matter of playing to the strengths.

[Anonymous]

Wow this describes my son a little bit. He seems affected mostly when he is tired or sick and with transitions from tv or video games. I don’t think he is actually inattentive add but shows tendencies as does my husband and possibly me. I’ve been reading a lot about processing speed as it came up during a private IQ wisc testing I had done on him at age 7. The speed was possibly attributed to fatigue, hunger, and poor handwriting. It’s a fine line because school these days sometimes seems like it may not prepare kids for the world they are growing up in. Following for more information and tips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is PP 09:54. Also, for our DC who is in the gifted range and borderline low average processing speed, we were told at our recent neuropsych follow up appt that processing speed is not a fixed state — it is impacted by anxiety, depression, etc. And, executive function is impacted greatly by anxiety/depression.

Checking in on your daughter’s state of mental health seems like a crucial first step to take.

+1

[Anonymous]

My kid is like this, too - and headed to high school next year. Eagerly reading along.

FWIW, neuropsych ruled out ADHD from their profile and concluded that the low processing was largely caused by anxiety/depression. We've done a lot to get on top of mental health, but I've been a bit at loose ends about how to best support the executive function pieces and scaffold in the places where kid has obvious struggles.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Interestingly, I don't think there is an anxiety/depression component to my daughter's issues. She is very level emotionally. Sees the best in everything and very much a "glass type full" person. She is very confident, social and outgoing-lots of friends, busy social life.

She's just extremely slow and methodical.

Kids are fascinating. As much as she is similar to other slow processors in some ways, she's her own person in others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We finally got our 14 year old tested and found out that she has an off-the-charts IQ and almost zero processing speed. Official diagnosis of ADHD. The psychologist said that she has one one of the most unique testing profiles she's seen in 20 years.
This kid has moved at her own pace almost since birth. Did very well in public school (many late assignments but the "no due dates" policy and frankly--the lack of rigor-- allowed her to still do very well). She hit a wall when we moved her to a very rigorous
private with firm due dates, 3 hours of homework per night and long exams.

If this is your kid, what has helped in school and what kind of schooling has worked? We are open to medication, changing schools, etc. Anything really.
The super low processing speed is our main concern. She works at a turtle's pace but then turns in perfect tests, extraordinary essays (per her teachers), etc.
She's nothing like our other (neuro typical, average) kid so this is new to us.

Switch back to a better school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We finally got our 14 year old tested and found out that she has an off-the-charts IQ and almost zero processing speed. Official diagnosis of ADHD. The psychologist said that she has one one of the most unique testing profiles she's seen in 20 years.
This kid has moved at her own pace almost since birth. Did very well in public school (many late assignments but the "no due dates" policy and frankly--the lack of rigor-- allowed her to still do very well). She hit a wall when we moved her to a very rigorous
private with firm due dates, 3 hours of homework per night and long exams.

If this is your kid, what has helped in school and what kind of schooling has worked? We are open to medication, changing schools, etc. Anything really.
The super low processing speed is our main concern. She works at a turtle's pace but then turns in perfect tests, extraordinary essays (per her teachers), etc.
She's nothing like our other (neuro typical, average) kid so this is new to us.

Neither high IQ nor slow processing speed are related to ADHD. "works at a turtle's pace but then turns in perfect" is nearly the opposite of ADHD.

Are you sure you didn't go to a psych who assumed you are diagnosis shopping because you are rich?

[Anonymous]

This is/was my now in college kid.
There are many great suggestions here. We've found the following helpful:

A good public school with an IEP that includes extended time accommodations (DS had +50%) and a scheduled daily Resource Period. In that end of day class, the teacher reviews the student's written out homework schedule, administers the remainder of any unfinished exams, and otherwise it is do-homework type of study hall. A daily "get organized" check-in so to say.

Medication for ADHD.

Use the iPhone (or similar) to set reminders, alerts, and alarms for assignments, study time, meet-ups. etc. DS still does this today so that the brain does not have to hold and organize this information. It's all stored in the handheld device. Easily referenceable.

We too kept the course load manageable. AP Calc? Sure. Honors science, yes. Add in some photography, art, or theatre to round out the type of school work and interactions.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We finally got our 14 year old tested and found out that she has an off-the-charts IQ and almost zero processing speed. Official diagnosis of ADHD. The psychologist said that she has one one of the most unique testing profiles she's seen in 20 years.
This kid has moved at her own pace almost since birth. Did very well in public school (many late assignments but the "no due dates" policy and frankly--the lack of rigor-- allowed her to still do very well). She hit a wall when we moved her to a very rigorous
private with firm due dates, 3 hours of homework per night and long exams.

If this is your kid, what has helped in school and what kind of schooling has worked? We are open to medication, changing schools, etc. Anything really.
The super low processing speed is our main concern. She works at a turtle's pace but then turns in perfect tests, extraordinary essays (per her teachers), etc.
She's nothing like our other (neuro typical, average) kid so this is new to us.

Neither high IQ nor slow processing speed are related to ADHD. "works at a turtle's pace but then turns in perfect" is nearly the opposite of ADHD.

Are you sure you didn't go to a psych who assumed you are diagnosis shopping because you are rich?

What?? This s completely wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We finally got our 14 year old tested and found out that she has an off-the-charts IQ and almost zero processing speed. Official diagnosis of ADHD. The psychologist said that she has one one of the most unique testing profiles she's seen in 20 years.
This kid has moved at her own pace almost since birth. Did very well in public school (many late assignments but the "no due dates" policy and frankly--the lack of rigor-- allowed her to still do very well). She hit a wall when we moved her to a very rigorous
private with firm due dates, 3 hours of homework per night and long exams.

If this is your kid, what has helped in school and what kind of schooling has worked? We are open to medication, changing schools, etc. Anything really.
The super low processing speed is our main concern. She works at a turtle's pace but then turns in perfect tests, extraordinary essays (per her teachers), etc.
She's nothing like our other (neuro typical, average) kid so this is new to us.

Neither high IQ nor slow processing speed are related to ADHD. "works at a turtle's pace but then turns in perfect" is nearly the opposite of ADHD.

Are you sure you didn't go to a psych who assumed you are diagnosis shopping because you are rich?

You clearly know nothing about it. We're talking about inattentive ADHD here, and it is extremely common to see it associated with low processing speed. It's not associated with IQ, which means that it's perfectly possible to be smart and inattentive and slow, as well as less smart and inattentive and slow. The former will tend to be diagnosed later, because the child's skills mask their disabilities.

And the assumption you make is highly offensive. No psych gives you a bogus diagnosis on the basis of wealth.

[Anonymous]

Working memory. There's slow processing that's connected with poor working memory which you get with ADHD. In my experience depression and anxiety does not impact working memory or slow processing from this perspective so all of you PP who are telling OP it does I don't think you are thinking of processing speed in terms of working memory and I think that is what you really mean OP.

DS has poor working memory accounting for slow processing. DD has slow processing based on anxiety OCD - see how that's different?

[Anonymous]

A kid who scores off the chart gifted can’t possibly have that slow of processing speed because many of the subtests are timed or have time limits.

The two processing speed subtests are coding and cancellation. And each have 120 second limits. You have to ask why your kid scored low on coding. Was it because they were slow but accurate, fast but inaccurate, pondered a while and thought there is a faster way to complete this task (you have to go in order even if you want to tackle the subtests a different way). Same with symbol search- slow but accurate, going back and double checking, or going at a good pace but inaccurate..

[Anonymous]

Following as similar to us. I do feel like the nueropyschs feed the diagnosis shopping; it really happens.

Our child is a total optimistic and so we missed the deep sadness and depression, they didn't know how to voice it, we didn't know how to see it, until the nueropysch. Just learning all the resources for the gifted. There seems to be many supports for executive functions and school accommodations. Just adding to the PP who mentioned looking into depression/anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A kid who scores off the chart gifted can’t possibly have that slow of processing speed because many of the subtests are timed or have time limits.

The two processing speed subtests are coding and cancellation. And each have 120 second limits. You have to ask why your kid scored low on coding. Was it because they were slow but accurate, fast but inaccurate, pondered a while and thought there is a faster way to complete this task (you have to go in order even if you want to tackle the subtests a different way). Same with symbol search- slow but accurate, going back and double checking, or going at a good pace but inaccurate..

Thanks for breaking this out - it's helpful.

I wrote above about my kid w/anxiety/depression and that the neuropsych ruled out ADHD. My kid was slow but accurate on all the processing-related tests plus math fluency - the report noted that kid got everything she answered correct, but that her pace was glacial. 98th percentile working memory, 98th percentile IQ, 20th percentile processing speed (and <20th percentile on several of the processing sub-assessments). I was sure that the assessment would lead us to an ADHD diagnosis, but it didn't even though my kid is still really impacted by executive function and other challenges related to the slow processing.

It's helpful for me (and her!) to know that this is just how she's wired, but man, I'm worried about the road ahead.