At parents evening the teacher said my DS is slow at processing ?

[twodayistheday]

He's in year 1, should I do do anything about this, I mean can you? She just added it at the end after all the usual platitudes, he's lovely, has good friends, getting on ok. She said he can't answer questions in class as he is slow to come up with the answer, but does know it if they wait, but they can't wait as usually someone shouts out whilst he's thinking. That part sounds like her class management, but I get it. Not hearing issues previously been checked multiple times.

I've often thought he has additional needs, but never fitted anything. His development as a baby was spot on, but between 1-3 speech was very slow, and he was very obsessive about lights and sounds , wheels, then age 3 he was very avoidant and quite controlling, about the time his sibling arrived, but this all seems to have resolved. He has had some play and speech therapy in the past.

I feel worn out worrying about my lovely DS. I just want to help him.

Hi

I completely understand your concerns but the main thing is that the teacher has said he can get to the answer, he just needs more time. It sounds like an off hand remark the teacher has made rather carelessly because slow processing is a diagnosis only an educational psychologist can give. If you are worried perhaps express your concerns to the school SENCO and ask if there are any referrals they can do for your child to local specialist support teachers or to speech and language therapy?

My DDs have slow processing. When a bit older they can do tests to see 'how slow'. They can get extra time for GCSEs if slow enough.

At home you my need to give extra time when giving information or asking questions. You somehow need to suppress the desire to repeat the question while they are thinking as this interrupts their thoughts and they have to start again. It is very difficult.

Similarly instructions may need to be given slower, as they may be too busy remembering part 1 to 'hear' part 2 & 3.

Ds has diagnosed slow processing speed. (He is autistic)

He gets extra time in exams and as a PP said, you do have to resist the tendency to repeat questions in a different way, teachers are taught that children have different learning styles and might wrongly assume the child needs to be asked or explained to in a different way.

Breaking tasks down, written/visual instructions can all help. What strategies has the teacher tried ? Is his difficulty verbal and/or written? If he is read a story can he recall the characters and talk about it? He can be assessed for processing speed and working memory but it can be a trait of Specific Learning Difficulty such as dyslexia or dyspraxia symptoms of which become more apparent with age and can affect confidence.

The other things that you mention makes me wonder if all the noise and other stimulus in the classroom makes it hard for him to concentrate.

The teacher really does need to find a way to give all the children time and space to answer.

Dd has this. Was formally diagnosed by an Ed psych at 7yo. Along with dyslexia. I also suspect she’s autistic.

However she’s now 20yo and doing really well at university. She got extra time for exams. But just wanted to say it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world if he does get a diagnosis. If you can afford to pay for a private appointment it’s worth it but think he needs to be 7yo

Ask for an appointment with the SENDCO.

Ask what strategies are in place within the classroom to help. I don't know about primary but we use task management boards at secondary so that if they miss some of the information while they are thinking they can go back and look, might help to have a pictorial sequence for some tasks, possibly the teacher already does this anyway.

Ask about smaller group work, where there's less 'shouting out'. I know DD (reception) does quite a few things in small groups.

Ask about gathering evidence for a proper diagnosis, because he's likely to benefit from extra time in for exams in the future, and the sooner you can start the process the better.

Yes used to giving extra time with the speech issues and maybe this processing thing was part of the delay in speaking.

I would say he's terrible at recalling thing that happened in books. We had some homeschooling like this recently when he was off sick. I just put it down to being under the weather.

His Dad is Dyslexic, but copes in a professional job, writing emails and things, but his reading speed is very slow if we say look at things together like a web page. It can run in families can't it?

Teacher said they use a recording pen with him as he forgets what sentence he wants to write.

However also said he is meeting expectations in all areas and doing well. He is a July born as I know that makes a difference too. I know there are quite a few excelling in his class and the school has high expectations / standards, they offer a lot of extension work, which he isn't doing due to time.

Your updates make it sound like the classroom is quite a high pressure environment. It's good that they want the best but don't get caught up in it too much. He sounds like he's doing absolutely fine, sod the extension work as long as he's happy and on track.

I'd still chase a proper diagnosis for the future an peace of mind. Dyslexia is definitely a possibility and you're right that he's more likely to have it if his dad does. But, deep breath and relax, he is doing well.

July birthday will make a big difference at this point, though it will even out in time. My DD is 2 months younger and in reception, she can just about write three letter words.

My daughter (aged 6 in year 1) is going through similar. We were unaware to be honest - she's our eldest and we didn't have anything to compare it to, at home she reads and writes and speaks to us expressively so nothing really jumped out to us. Her teacher expressed that there could potentially be an issue so she is undergoing an assessment by a speech and language assessor at the moment. Initial feedback is that she can certainly do it all but that it takes a lot of effort and a bit longer than her classmates.

It is worrying isn't it. Like you, we just want to be able to help her the best we can. Hopefully once the assessment has been concluded we can get a plan in place with the school to assist her. We also had a hearing assessment done recently and an eye test booked in for next week.

DS2 has a processing issue, was diagnosed officially around Y5. They thought he was dyslexic (DH is) but he scored highly in those tests but extremely low for processing. He was diagnosed just after that with autism and ADHD.

He hid it quite well in infant school though, then when the school work got harder he struggled. For us I am glad he has a proper diagnosis though as it explains so much and also will mean he is eligible for additional exam time (he is Y9 now). He is so slow at processing exam questions, if I am honest the teachers are a bit crap at dealing with it but we are on the case re exams, it seems like every time he goes up a year they completely forget!

It can be a teaching issue. DD aged 9 has had no concerns raised throughout her schooling and has done very well at school until suddenly at the P4 parents’ evening the teacher said that she took a long time to process things and had done poorly in a computerised multiple choice test as a result, because there was a time limit set. That was a year ago and her teachers this year report that she’s doing well. Meanwhile, last year’s teacher wasn’t kept on due to a number of concerns raised about his teaching ability (he was newly qualified). So it could be poor classroom management if other kids are shouting out.

My DD19 has slow processing alongside dyspraxia. She got extra time for A levels. However her big issue is not the processing speed but that she needs to process aloud (and read aloud if she is to remember what she has read). THe dyspraxia also affects processing as she can't do something like a chemistry experiment or follow a recipe and then tell you what she has done (whereas watching someone else do it is fine. She was late getting a diagnosis and it would have been really helpful to have had one much earlier so that adjustments etc could be put in place for her. I strongly recommend asking your son's teacher to set up a meeting with the SENCO.

I'm dyslexic and my processing speed is slow; I forget where it came on my last test (when I was still at university), but I remember they said it was a significant problem. I'm interested you say he's bad at recalling the plots of books - I am terrible at this! I really struggle with films as well.

Something I only cottoned onto when I had DD was that I find it much easier to remember things like that if I have time to re-tell them to myself straight after reading. I realised because DD's reading books for school have this little exercise at the back where they have pictures of events in the story and arrows pointing from one to the next, and you're meant to get your child to re-tell you the story. Well, it was me who needed the retelling bit!

It's definitely possible to cope well despite a low processing speed. Most of my family is dyslexic (as you say, it runs in families) and my DB and I both have rotten processing speed, but we've done fine academically.