Is processing speed permanent, develops on its own, or needs intervention?

[cdwise]

DS, 9, 3rd grade, has been diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and Asperger's. PRI was in the 95%ile, processing in the 9th %ile. From my understanding, the underlying issue with all of these diagnoses is processing speed. It affects his reading, his executive functioning (ability to organize and write), and social communication because if he can't react fast enough socially, he's going to be awkward.

 

I have not shared this with much of my family or close friends yet. I'm worried I'll get a lot of people saying things like, "It's a developmental issue. It will resolve on it's own with time." Or "It's just a processing issue." I'm concerned the essential message will be that getting him diagnosed was an over-reaction on my part. I'm worried that this will come from well-meaning friends, who I like and need, and that I will get bitter and resentful. I've been away from home during his diagnosis, and we'll be going back pretty soon.

 

I'm hoping people with kids who have gone through this over time and have seen test scores change or not change can give me real feedback.

 

Is processing speed just a developmental issue that my son would grow into? Am I expecting too much of him and being impatient?

 

Is processing speed a fairly permanent feature of cognitive functioning that he'll need to deal with his whole life?

 

Are there particular therapies, besides Barton and social communication therapy, that can help to increase his processing speed?

 

I'm trying to get a handle on the balance between not trying to "fix" him while at the same time supporting him to be the best he can be.

[Tokyomarie]

I think you've got at least two different issues you're concerned about in this post:

 

1) The reactions of people at home to your son's diagnoses

 

2) The issues of processing SPEED and actual processing SKILLS

 

As for number 1, the information in your son's evaluations is medical information. Do not feel compelled to share it with anyone, except on a need to know basis, and even then only the pieces necessary to getting the services and accommodations you need in the settings where your son spends time. It's hard in the beginning to develop answers to people's questions and a "spiel" which helps you explain your son's needs without divulging too much information. One approach some parents take in social settings is to explain certain characteristics that require understanding from people without sharing exact diagnostic labels. ie: My son is still learning how to read and we are working on that. In the meantime, please don't ask him to read out loud in a group.

 

Concerning processing, you need to separate actual processing skills, which relate to how the brain takes in auditory, visual, and kinesthetic information and manipulates it to make sense of it all. Processing speed testing is an attempt at quantifying how fast this all happens for a particular person. Don't forget that these tests often rely on a person's ability to provide quick output by hand with a pencil and paper. Difficulty manipulating a pencil can slow down a person who is otherwise thinking quickly.

 

That aside, processing speed itself is often considered to be a measure that is not easily influenced by specific activities for developing processing speed. In fact, I'm not aware of specific activities that target processing speed. However, individual component skills of thinking- such as letter and word recognition, the ability to categorize quickly, to recognize parts vs. wholes, recognize emotions, etc.- can be developed and over time. As the child develops automaticity in these functions, their overall processing speed will probably increase. This kind of work is not a quick fix, but consistent work in cognitive development can change how the brain processes information, and probably the speed with which it happens. In addition, excellent nutrition, and certain supplements, IMO, may influence brain development and bring some improvements.

 

ETA: I should note that many people may still be on the slower side as they reach adulthood and need some accommodation for that in college or the workplace. I believe that, as he has grown, my son's processing speed and working memory have improved. I don't have actual scores from his early childhood so I am making a functional comparison. His performance is way beyond what it was in early-to-mid elementary, and even compared to the time when he was formally tested 3 years ago, I think he is improved. However, he still can benefit from extra time during timed tests, especially for tests like the ACT and for essay tests.

[AMJ]

cdwise, I'm rooting for you. Hang in there, and focus on learning about how your DS learns and thinks. Over time you will find a way to discuss things with other family, and will hopefully learn to not take anything they say to heart. They know less than you do, and will often speak from their fear of the unknown. Have patience, and don't take it personally. Come here to rant whenever you need to -- these forums are FULL of understanding people glad to lend a listening ear.

 

Tokyomarie (and anyone else knowledgeable), can you tell us newbies if testing is a one-time deal, or if there are certain tests that should be repeated over few years? My DD11 was diagnosed ADHD (primarily inattentive, dysgraphic, slow processing speed, among other things. Should testing for Asperger's, ADHD, dys-anything, processing speed, what-have-you be repeated at any time in the future? If so, when, and for what reasons?

[Tokyomarie]

Tokyomarie (and anyone else knowledgeable), can you tell us newbies if testing is a one-time deal, or if there are certain tests that should be repeated over few years? My DD11 was diagnosed ADHD (primarily inattentive, dysgraphic, slow processing speed, among other things. Should testing for Asperger's, ADHD, dys-anything, processing speed, what-have-you be repeated at any time in the future? If so, when, and for what reasons?

 

If the student may be in need of accommodations for high stakes testing (ACT, SAT, AP, etc) for college admission and for college classes, full testing should be repeated not more than three years prior to anticipated college entry. You may need recent results for the college entry tests, in which case you need to have results in hand at least 3-6 months prior to the first anticipated test date. It takes time to get through the approval process with the Collegeboard once an application is made, and if there is an initial denial, you may need time to make an appeal, if you believe their denial is unjustified. That said, with thorough documentation, my son's approval came through in just a few weeks from the time his application was submitted.

 

Colleges usually want to see testing from no more than 3 years prior to entry. Some colleges, however, want an adult-normed IQ test result, which means the student needs to be at least 16yrs old at time of evaluation.

 

Prior to a full re-evaluation, sometimes it's helpful to have individual achievement tests, such as the WJ III Achievement or the WIAT-3, repeated. But that would be on an as needed basis which can be determined together with any professionals involved at the time.

[wapiti]

cdwise, I feel pretty certain that, once upon a time, I read that processing speed increases normally as a child gets older (picture a curve that plateaus in adulthood - I wish I could remember where I saw this - something about brain development). Still, I know my own processing speed seems slower than other people's (just ask dh :glare: ).

 

Tokyomarie (and anyone else knowledgeable), can you tell us newbies if testing is a one-time deal, or if there are certain tests that should be repeated over few years? My DD11 was diagnosed ADHD (primarily inattentive, dysgraphic, slow processing speed, among other things. Should testing for Asperger's, ADHD, dys-anything, processing speed, what-have-you be repeated at any time in the future? If so, when, and for what reasons?

 

(Eta, Marie beat me to it - it's my slow processing, lol)

 

The College Board has specific rules with regard to eligibility for accommodations on the SATs. My understanding (which may or may not be entirely accurate) is that IQ testing (which would include processing speed) would need to be repeated within three years of the SATs. I'm not sure about the other testing and actual DSM diagnoses, but I sort of assume there would need to be some update of the diagnosis.

 

Our ed psych recommends testing on a roughly 3-year schedule for my boys who have borderline low-enough processing speed. Mine will also need a dysgraphia diagnosis, which has not been officially diagnosed officially yet even though everyone sees the handwriting issue. I believe we'll test again around 7th/8th and again in 10th.

 

FWIW, one of my kids was recently re-tested, and his score on the Coding subtest actually got lower by quite a bit. That may or may not have been due to anxiety, etc. or simply the increased requirements of the test due to his older age.

[Tokyomarie]

The Collegeboard's SSD site has very detailed instructions for the documentation necessary for them to make a determination of eligibility for accommodations. The following paragraph is taken from the SSD site:

 

"Be current. In most cases, the evaluation and diagnostic testing should have taken place within five years of the request for accommodations. For psychiatric disabilities, an annual evaluation update must be within 12 months of the request for accommodations. For visual disabilities, documentation should be within two years, and for physical/medical, an update must be within one year from the time of the request."

 

This site is a great one to become very familiar with so you know what to expect when the time comes to use the information.

[PeterPan]

Although some things (EF, for instance) are developmental, that only means the dc continues to progress IN RELATION TO HIMSELF. Left unchecked, the dc stays at roughly the same place and moves forward in relation to himself, not his peers. So he's still behind year after year after year.

 

The C8Kids site claims to be able to move processing speed, and another poster here got it to move (affirmed by np testing) with Interactive Metronome. So it *can* move, but it's not easy. The C8Kids thing is legit (from a researcher at Yale), well put together, and I think worth anyone's time. The price also happens to be right (donation). Check it out. http://c8kids.c8sciences.com

[cdwise]

Thanks to each of you that replied. OhElizabeth, I took a look at that site, and it's intriguing. It's not something we have the time to start on right away, but I'll be putting it on file to check back on. Also, Tokyomarie, thank you for that detailed perspective--especially the idea of speed vs. skills. It helps me to put into perspective why I'm drilling with him, and not feel that the time and work we're putting in is futile even if the test scores of his cognitive processing don't change over time. AMJ, Marie and Wapiti--thank you so much for the encouragement and the input--I'm always helped when I hear other people's real life stories.

 

Anyone else seeing this and having experience with processing speed, I would love to hear more input. Thanks!

[Tiramisu]

I was told something by a developmental optometrist that makes me think visual processing speed could be improved by gaining automaticity. If that's true, I would think processing speed in general could improve for specific activities that are practiced like reading.

 

The developmental optometrist also did not recommend formal therapy as a help for the processing speed delay, as much as life-style integrated interventions, such as lots of reading and playing an instrument.

[cdwise]

I was told something by a developmental optometrist that makes me think visual processing speed could be improved by gaining automaticity. If that's true, I would think processing speed in general could improve for specific activities that are practiced like reading.

 

The developmental optometrist also did not recommend formal therapy as a help for the processing speed delay, as much as life-style integrated interventions, such as lots of reading and playing an instrument.

 

We do a lot of reading, and I'm hoping to continue doing Barton with him. We certainly have musical talent and interest in the family, but so far efforts to engage him musically have been a failure.And I have tried with that from an early age. He also has an Asperger's diagnosis, so since music is not his "thing" he puts up a big fight about it when it takes time away from his particular interests. I like the music suggestion, but the problem I run into is that I run out of "will." I have to force him to do basic hygeine, force him to do homework, force him to read, and by the time we get to something like music, it just seems like it's more effort (and strain on the family) than it's worth.

 

Still, I'm curious how other people deal with this. Am I "giving up?" Should I push it with the music? We gave up with sports also because of his issues. He's only 9, so I'm hoping he'll come to sports later. It's just with 3 children total and the one using up most of my energy, I'm not sure where to cut off "extra" activities like sports and music when he's so resistant.

[PeterPan]

Music is HARD with very low processing speed, because it requires so much processing (read, move your fingers, remember what the sharps or flats are, tempo, etc.). It's EVERYTHING at once, which is why it can be good or overwhelming, depending on the dc. My dd, after years of me trying and a year of formal lessons, could either read the notes on paper and tell you the names OR strike the keys when told a note. Pull it together and do both? Nope, hopeless. Typing was all a stinkin' mess for her, like to the point I despaired of it ever working. I forget if you said dysgraphia, but typing can be a serious issue. QWERTY was just hard for her as she tried to speed up, so she turned on the mule thing (I get you there, oh my) and reverted to pecking. We went to Dvorak for the keyboard layout and she finally started to get success.

 

On the music, I suggest you do something that requires less movement and less processing. I made the choice all the way the normal way or nothing. Suzuki, something that let her just do what she could, probably would have been better than NOTHING. Or try a band instrument he likes that requires less fine motor. That way you're playing just one note (not 6-8).

 

Sports, it really varies with the sport. He might be horrible at many sports and yet have one he'd be fine at. He might do well at ice skating. Horse riding is very good for core strength, good for social/bonding (with the horse), and a lifelong activity. If he gets to groom the horse, put on the saddle, etc. he's also working his upper body strength, arm strength, and fine motor that can carry over. He might like horse shoes (rewards perfectionism, good for upper body). Just try some things beyond the norm.

[cdwise]

I like that idea of a band instrument--I might have to try that.

[Second Time Around]

Hi,

 

I have a 17 yo ds who just got retested. Processing speed at 9 was at the 7th percentile; at 17 under the WAIS-IV he scored at the 4th percentile and on the WJCogIII he scored at the 1st percentile.

 

After testing at 9, my son received vision and OT briefly (until graduated out by his therapist) and continued to work with a private therapist who had us work with Brain Skills (which I'm trying to dispose of, if anyone is interested in this program anymore?) and various software programs for auditory and visual processing. The therapist evaluated him as having a -3.4 year processing speed deviation when he came to her, and perhaps 9 months later that had transformed to -1. I believe we continued to do some things at home after that, but she graduated him out of her program since she had remediated his other scores to age level or above, except for VP (-0.9) and spelling (-3), and did not feel that it would be helpful to us to continue to pay for her services. We still drilled math facts, and spelling was the last remaining academic mountain to climb. He could not read properly until age 10 - longer books age 11. However by the time he was in 9th grade, he was reading extremely challenging texts with good comprehension, doing well in Math, acing Biology, struggling through Latin (which he received an A for Latin II via Veritas Press the following year), doing well in grammar(Rod & Staff), but writing was still challenging, and spelling, atrocious, even though his thoughts were intelligent. He also managed to fit in drawing, art apprec. and music apprec. We continued to drill spelling until this year (11th grade) where he has made enormous improvements but is still probably lagging behind the general population.

 

He had a very challenging workload for his high school years, and apart from it taking him a long time to complete, he was doing well. This year (11th grade) he has received A's in AP Bio at high school; A's in pre-calc at Veritas Press (Foerster's Alg + Trig); B+ from Great Books Academy where he has read and enjoyed 1 Shakespeare a week for several weeks, and many other works ranging from Aquinas to Hobbe's Leviathan. He undoubtedly puts in more time than his peers for all these activities. He also received a 570/R, 640/M, 530 (Essay 8) for January's SAT without accommodations. I'm merely describing all this to let you know that because he seemed to be improving yearly and doing well academically, processing speeds weren't things we woke up worrying about everyday. Only the re-testing drew our attention back to his areas of challenge, and just how severe they are. Perhaps if he had been in a traditional classroom setting it might have been more obvious, since he would have had a much more inflexible schedule which would have drawn attention to his deficits. Not that I regret that, though, since at home he has had the freedom to study what he wants at the level of intensity he prefers. I'm not sure they would have allowed him that freedom at a regular school given his academic and cognitive history. My daughter goes to PS full time now, and briefly experienced a high school class where the LD kids are put, and she never wants to go through that again).

 

So, I suppose the answer to the OP's question, in my son's particular case, is that his processing deficits were briefly remediated, but seem to have 're-emerged' with some pretty scary scores. Perhaps we should have given them more attention over the past 3-4 years in order to maintain his gains, but his high school work load was daunting and his ostensible academic accomplishments appeared to be more than acceptable.

 

I'm curious to know about studying music. I had not really heard that mentioned in my day, beyond the general concept that music studies help with a child's brain development/coordination. DS did study cello until 8th grade, but it seemed to be not only a burden, but a source of extreme frustration for him, and his teacher was very good, but not very understanding of his problems in tracking the music on the page etc. I always felt anxious that she was going to lose it with him (and once she did), even though this was a child who doesn't understand how to give anything less than 200% of his effort to any activity. Since it was not something he seemed to love, we allowed him to drop it for 9th grade to focus on other preferred activities.

[Terabith]

Elizabeth, can you tell me about the C8 program? What does it look like? How does a session of it go? How long does it take?