Hi Dr. Singer,
Our son has trouble in school with anything that requires multiple steps like Math. He seems to get lost in the steps and then when he loses track, he goes off task and becomes distractible. Teachers have said he has ADD, but we don’t believe that this is a syndrome based thing. Do you think that getting lost in the steps means ADD or can it be something else? F.P.
Hi F.P.,
It sounds like your child may be suffering from a processing speed problem. I say that because I have seen so many kids who have trouble with things like Math and other multi-step school work. If processing speed is not as fast as it could be, kids do get lost while going through all the steps, don’t remember where they have been and like any human being would, when they feel that kind of stress, they self distract and go off task. When I have fixed the processing speed in the past by working with the child on specialized processing speed exercises, those symptoms went away.
I believe that kids have RAM or Random Access Memory of sorts, just like a computer does and it can be upgraded just like a computer. Of course, we would not be opening up the child’s head and adding to the motherboard, but in the same way, helping the child to practice being faster in a specific way goes a long way toward getting rid of those off-task behaviors. Helping a child be faster isn’t hard. It just takes the right kid of practice.
Our son has trouble in school with anything that requires multiple steps like Math. He seems to get lost in the steps and then when he loses track, he goes off task and becomes distractible. Teachers have said he has ADD, but we don’t believe that this is a syndrome based thing. Do you think that getting lost in the steps means ADD or can it be something else? F.P.
Hi F.P.,
It sounds like your child may be suffering from a processing speed problem. I say that because I have seen so many kids who have trouble with things like Math and other multi-step school work. If processing speed is not as fast as it could be, kids do get lost while going through all the steps, don’t remember where they have been and like any human being would, when they feel that kind of stress, they self distract and go off task. When I have fixed the processing speed in the past by working with the child on specialized processing speed exercises, those symptoms went away.
I believe that kids have RAM or Random Access Memory of sorts, just like a computer does and it can be upgraded just like a computer. Of course, we would not be opening up the child’s head and adding to the motherboard, but in the same way, helping the child to practice being faster in a specific way goes a long way toward getting rid of those off-task behaviors. Helping a child be faster isn’t hard. It just takes the right kid of practice.
Unfortunately, many people confuse intelligence level with processing. I have seen many kids with IQ’s that were off the charts like 142, who also had one or two processing areas that needed lifting. I say unfortunately, because some of those kids struggle intensely to get as many successes as they get and it could be easier and less stressful if those couple processing areas were just practiced the right way. Those kids have huge strengths and some small weaknesses. They lean on their strengths all their lives and are very hard workers so they do very well. Sometimes, though if there are some weaknesses there too, the stress level they deal with to get the work done might be more than it needs to be and/or the amount of time it takes them to get work done might be longer than it needs to be.
It gets worse when they feel bad about themselves because of this or if someone tells them they are lazy or not trying hard enough. The fact is, they are. It isn’t about smarts. It’s about coordinating the smarts.
I don’t mean to oversimplify here. Processing speed is the first thing that jumps out at me when I hear your question, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t other parts to this. For example, there can be behavioral habits that operate as defense mechanisms. These can hold the child back from success just as much as processing speed problems. If those exist together, it is even harder on the child.
The grand outcome to all of this is to try and make the child’s life work the best as it can with the least possible stress and work and the greatest possible outcome. Calling something ADD and then going down that road does nothing to build any skills or make anything work better for the child. Even if the off-task behavior “goes away” the underlying inability to take on work that needs speed to hold onto all the steps will not get better with ADD treatment until the child is actually trained to be faster.
Dr. Sherri Singer is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Childhood Attention, Behavior and Learning Specialist. She regularly works in person with her readers, helping them to significantly improve their kid’s attention, behavior, processing skills and self-esteem. Dr. Singer’s program has promoted dramatically fast behavior, attention, learning and homework speed change both at home and school. To learn how to change your child’s life for the better, please go to drsher.weebly.com to get started or call (224) 548-7269.
I would love to hear about your stories and comments!
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