My kid has a high IQ and slow processing speed.
The official diagnosis is ADD. He underperforms in certain classes in school, but in others, like math, he's so far ahead that he can slack and still do well.

Adderall helps. Also, I have to get my kid to activities and school very early because he has such a hard time getting ready and going. It's an ongoing struggle.

Could be OCD and not processing speed per se.

Filter the work. Cut the optional low-weight busywork.

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.

Anonymous wrote:My son has abysmally low processing speed (tested at the 2 to 4th percentile, depending on the test). His GAI is very high, with verbal cognitive scores in the 99th percentile, but his total score is normal, since it's dragged down by the functional parts of the test like processing speed, working memory, etc.

He is diagnosed with ADHD/ASD/anxiety, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, problems with motor coordination and low processing speed. He also has sleep apnea, which obviously exacerbates fatigue, inattention and slowness. He has a double time accommodation, which I am told is quite rare: in school for tests (with extra days to hand in assignments), for AP exams, the ACT, and now for exams in college. He had an IEP in public school from K-12th grade, then a 504 plan.

Stimulants for ADHD help him to focus and as a result ameliorate the processing speed a little bit, decrease the daydreaming, and help him remember things he's supposed to do, like hand in homework or take his key/wallet when he leaves the house. But even when he's focusing on a task, he's still very slow at it.

His high school years were very challenging, because he is not able to function well on subjects he's not interested in. He needed a lot of redirection, support, tutoring, and meds. Interestingly, in college, he hardly takes medication anymore. I think it's a combination of the fact he loves his major, and he has gained in maturity and understands himself better, how to study, how to minimize daydreams, the importance of sleep and nutrition, etc... He is still abysmally slow, though, which might pose a serious problem in his career.

I'd move your kid back to a good public school get her an IEP with extended time accommodations and ADHD stimulants. If you're loathe to move her right away, you can always try to request accommodations in the private school, but please know that generally privates don't cater to special needs as well as publics.

Honestly, though: you're finding this out at 14? If she's been able to function OK until this point, I wonder if she's as impacted as someone like my son, who was non-functional by Kindergarten. I certainly hope she's more functional!

OP here. I think Covid really disguised a lot of this--she was in a district with almost 2 full years of virtual school and very little work. Then expectations never really recovered post Covid (no firm due dates, As for completion, etc). She very much flew under the radar for a number of years.

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.

NP. Thank you for this post! DS has gifted IQ and average processing speed so not as impacted as OP's DC but definitely processing speed and EF seems to be variable for DC. I appreciate hearing that it is not a fixed state, this supports what I have seen.

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.

My ADHD DS wasn't diagnosed as ADHD and dyslexic until age 10 and that was us flagging for school - he probably would have carried his weight until 6/7th grade because he's smart. I suspect your kid is a genius to have gotten to age 14 without notice!!

Here's the scoop: you have to look at meds. TOTAL game changer. We went 2 years without because it is a trial and error thing with meds - we tried and tried and just couldn't find anything so we relied on therapy, outside tutoring and our kid loves school and is so bright it worked until 8th grade when it was obviously he needed more help than pure desire to do well.

ADHD meds often have side effects that increase anxiety. As well, ADHD is often not just ADHD but another disability or issue attached - whether OCD, anxiety, dyslexia, etc. So just make sure that once on ADHD meds you understand if she also may have some anxiety she'll need meds to offset that side effect as well. You need patience as it may take a couple trials to find which works for her.

Start reading about working memory. This is the hallmark of true ADHD - people who talk about how they have it do not have it if their working memory is not impacted at all. Being a daydreamer and not being able to focus as it relates to working memory is a flag to whether ADHD is there. Working memory and slow processing are related. You cannot totally improve processing. Understand and accept that. You can mitigate and circumvent, there are tricks you can do to help make things easier. You aren't going to increase it 30% or something though. You can learn to leverage your other skills but working memory is what it is.

Games help as practice with anything helps. Wordle (NYT) is good. There are specific board games I forget which right now that can help. Card games can help. The trick is to get used to having to use it. It doesn't raise your ability to be faster but it is good to use it.

List making is a great way of learning how to prioritize. Using alarms is a great way of reminding yourself where you are on time. Things like this - you're using things to help you track. There are all sorts of coping strategies you can learn to help bypass the need for faster processing speed - really she's smart enough to do the stuff - she just needs to finish. I think she's lucky that she has that intelligence and your support and at 14 it's not too late at all to move forward from here.

My son has abysmally low processing speed (tested at the 2 to 4th percentile, depending on the test). His GAI is very high, with verbal cognitive scores in the 99th percentile, but his total score is normal, since it's dragged down by the functional parts of the test like processing speed, working memory, etc.

He is diagnosed with ADHD/ASD/anxiety, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, problems with motor coordination and low processing speed. He also has sleep apnea, which obviously exacerbates fatigue, inattention and slowness. He has a double time accommodation, which I am told is quite rare: in school for tests (with extra days to hand in assignments), for AP exams, the ACT, and now for exams in college. He had an IEP in public school from K-12th grade, then a 504 plan.

Stimulants for ADHD help him to focus and as a result ameliorate the processing speed a little bit, decrease the daydreaming, and help him remember things he's supposed to do, like hand in homework or take his key/wallet when he leaves the house. But even when he's focusing on a task, he's still very slow at it.

His high school years were very challenging, because he is not able to function well on subjects he's not interested in. He needed a lot of redirection, support, tutoring, and meds. Interestingly, in college, he hardly takes medication anymore. I think it's a combination of the fact he loves his major, and he has gained in maturity and understands himself better, how to study, how to minimize daydreams, the importance of sleep and nutrition, etc... He is still abysmally slow, though, which might pose a serious problem in his career.

I'd move your kid back to a good public school get her an IEP with extended time accommodations and ADHD stimulants. If you're loathe to move her right away, you can always try to request accommodations in the private school, but please know that generally privates don't cater to special needs as well as publics.

Honestly, though: you're finding this out at 14? If she's been able to function OK until this point, I wonder if she's as impacted as someone like my son, who was non-functional by Kindergarten. I certainly hope she's more functional!

I don’t have solutions to offer but just sharing that my child has the same profile. IQ in the 97or 98th percentile and processing speed below the fifth. It is unbelievably frustrating for everyone. Even conversationally, it takes him awhile to catch up. The other week it took him 4 hours to complete an assessment where the average time for completion is less than 40 minutes.

This article from Davidson Institute on slow processing speed in the gifted has specific strategies further down in the article under “How to Address Slow Processing Speed” where it says:

“After a thorough psychological and educational evaluation, a plan can be developed to reduce the impact of slow processing speed. Intervention strategies fall into three categories: school-based, home-based, and child-based. . .”

https://www.davidsongifted.org/gifted-blog/understanding-diagnosing-and-coping-with-slow-processing-speed/

Have you read Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up?by Ellen Braaten

Her book helped quite a bit. Our kid is similar wrt processing speed, but closer to 130s on the other tests so probably not quite as high as yours. High school has been very frustrating for her.

Anonymous wrote:Explicitly (very Explicitly) teach her time management & executive function techniques/ tips and tricks. Figure out what her process is and teach her to find a point when (to her) its 90% done and work towards that being the "final product". She doesn't have to do this forever, but she needs to learn this as a life skill.

OP here. This is her in a nutshell. She will work on something for an unbelievable amount of time and then stall out at 95% completed and not turn it in because she hasn't tweaked it quite enough. We used to think, "oh wow, she is so diligent and precise" but it's turned out to be a major handicap. She had teachers last year and this year (two different schools) tell her that an essay she finally turned in was the best they've seen in their career of teaching kids in that respective grade but she's not functional in the day-to-day.

Explicitly (very Explicitly) teach her time management & executive function techniques/ tips and tricks. Figure out what her process is and teach her to find a point when (to her) its 90% done and work towards that being the "final product". She doesn't have to do this forever, but she needs to learn this as a life skill.

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.