Poor Working Memories Can Cause Kids to Fail in School

British researchers have identified a new kind of learning disability - defects in working memory - that may affect up to 10 percent of all children.

Working memory is the brain's temporary "storage bin." It allows people to mentally store and manipulate an average of three to five items at once. Children with poor working memories often appear lazy or unintelligent in school. The disability seems to be linked to Attention Deficit Disorder.

"One little girl told me recently, 'Every time I read a sentence it erases the one that was before it,'" said Dr. Mel Levine. "That's a perfect example of an active working memory dysfunction." Dr. Levine is co-founder of All Kinds of Minds, a nonprofit institute in Durham, N.C., that studies learning differences. Children like this little girl cannot remember the first sentence on a page as they continue to read the rest of it.

"In children with learning difficulties, it becomes a huge issue, especially around middle school where the demands on working memory grow dramatically," Dr. Levine said.

Working memory is the single best predictor of academic success, said the study's author, Dr. Tracey Alloway of Britain's Durham University. Memory training exercises can help children with poor working memories, but the bigger problem is that the condition is rarely diagnosed.

New Strategy Helps Kids Learn

The strategy is called SLANT and was developed by researchers at Kansas University. It was initially developed for special needs children, but researchers have since discovered that it works best with ADD or ADHD students.

"In the SLANT strategy, the S stands for 'Sit up straight', the L stands for 'Lean Forward', the A stands for 'Activate your thinking', the N stands for 'Note key idea' (littler ones, 'Nod and smile' works better), the T stands for 'Track the talker'."

Teachers can create posters to place around the room, or even note cards that can be taped to students' desks. Then, when a student is not paying attention, all the teacher has to say is "SLANT" or "everyone needs to SLANT". The students know what it means and are reminded to sit up straight and pay attention.

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Learning Disability Specialist Offers Study Tips

Students with learning disabilities like dyslexia and ADHD often have a hard time studying for tests and quizzes. Learning disabilities specialist Alexa Taylor has developed a list of strategies to help students who struggle in this area.

"Duplicate normal study places. If studying in the library is a habit when class is in session, don't switch to studying in the dorm, where roommates and television can be distractions."

Other suggestions include using different study styles throughout the day, and mapping out a specific written study schedule.

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Youth Achievement Award

Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities is a non-profit organization that was started in 2000 to support and encourage children with learning disabilities or ADHD and their parents. Every year, they offer a Youth Achievement Award for which kids can be nominated.

"This $1,000 award recognizing the strengths and accomplishments of young people with learning disabilities and ADHD will be given to a student 19 or younger who has demonstrated initiative, talent, and determination resulting in a notable accomplishment in any field – including art, music, science, math, athletics or community service.”

Young people who have received the award in the past have overcome problems caused by dyslexia, ADHD, emotional traumas and more.

Learn more about how you can help your child with learning disabilities at LearningDisabilitiesInfo.com.

When "ADHD" Meets "Academically Gifted"

Until now, there's been no official name given to kids who are unusually bright but also struggle with a learning disability such as ADHD. Because there's been no name, no distinct category, there's also been no strategy in place for educating these kids. But a non-profit group called IDL - Individual Differences in Learning Association - has begun taking corrective action on behalf of this unusual group of students that are being called "twice-exceptional learners".

"[Katharina] Boser and other members of IDL spent most of the summer in the county's Television and Media Production studio... interviewing students, teachers, parents and experts to create a two-hour video on twice-exceptional learners."

The video will be used to inform and educate school officials on the unique learning needs of twice-exceptional learners, which are also sometimes referred to as GTLD - gifted and talented/learning disabled. The goal is to help parents and educators learn how to consider not just a child's learning disability, but his learning skills and talents as well.

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Vision Trouble and ADHD

Vision problems that go undetected and untreated can cause children to display ADHD-like symptoms. Due to the similarities, some children are being diagnosed with ADHD when - in reality - it's their eyes that are causing the trouble.

"A recent study by researchers at the Children's Eye Center, University of San Diego, uncovered a relationship between a common vision disorder, convergence insufficiency, and ADHD. The study 'showed that children with convergence insufficiency are three times as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than children without the disorder.'"

The new research supports existing opinions that vision problems are often found in children with learning disabilities. Parents are encouraged to have their children's eyesight tested if they're struggling in school. Read more at Canada.com.

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