Dyslexia - High Processing Speed but low working memory

[HappyHugs]

Just looking for some insight. My 7 year old ds has just been diagnosed with dyslexia by an Educational Psychologist at school. His IQ was above average, 125 (95th centile), and his psi 126 (96th). His working memory, however, at 104 is 61st centile.

The adverse discrepancy between his predicted (based on IQ) and actual scores for all areas of reading, writing and numeracy is apparently found in less than 2% of population.

He will be eligible for support but I am also interested in how (and whether) I can boost his working memory. Oddly virtually every piece of research I've found seems to draw direct correlation between processing speed and working memory or, if anything, the weakness lying on the PSI side. Lots of advice on how improving processing speed in order to improve working memory but really I can't see much room for improvement in this area.

I'm interested in whether anyone else has had any experience of this particular issue.

Yes, and I've given rehabilitative strategies for children with WM relative difficulties. I'd provide WM specific recommendations, and your ed psych should do this for you. On a slightly separate note, whilst different practitioners will give a full scale iq with that level of discrepancy, I think it's not a very helpful way of categorizing child's profile. Was it actually a GAI of 125 rather than an IQ?

The discrepancy model (within dyslexia) has been discredited and is no longer in line with the evidence base- see British dyslexia association website (or dyslexia debate by Elliot and grigenko). Your ds WM score is in the average range and therefore within a totally acceptable level! Within the general population lots of us would have ' spikey' profiles - I.e. Areas of strength. Totally normal.
However there are a range of school based strategies that are very helpful in supporting children identified with WM difficulties (your ds doesn't have WM difficulties though and I wouldn't be recommending strategies to support- why try and 'fix' something that isn't broken)
However you might want to check the York guide (gathercole and alloway).

Thanks for the replies folks.

The Ed Psych advised me that he passes everything back to the education board now to put an intervention plan in action.

IamSprout I have re-checked and 125 is indeed his full scale IQ. I don’t know what GAI is and can’t see anything using those letters on his report.

Tid - this is definitely a discrepancy model. The term is used on the report and his reading / spelling/ numerical op etc scores are listed alongside the predicted score (for a child with similar IQ). The gap ranges from 13 - 34 points depending on which area was tested.
Can I ask if you are an Ed Psych and if so do you not see an issue with these scores - how would you test for dyslexia? He definitely has reading and writing difficulties but is verbally very bright.

We are in NI so I can only assume the model is continuing to be used here (as I hear, anecdotally, it also is in the ROI).

What were his scores for reading and spelling?

Hi drbanana. They were both low average -82 and 89 respectively

Thank you so much for bringing up this topic, as it describes 3 of my children. Happyhugs, I agree the problem lies in the discrepancy the two. My children have processing speeds in the 99th percentile and working memory in the 40th. They also have IQ's around 140. However, they all have major focus/attending problems, but the neuropsych evals say it is this problem with the discrepancy , not ADD/ ADHD. One professional eval suggested "gifted dyslexia," since they all are obsessive readers who taught themselves how to speed read, so their comprehension is in the 99th percentile, but their phonemic skills are only in the 50th, resulting in spelling being in the 15th percentile. My17 year old also has dysgraphia; all of this has resulted in extremely poor grades and extremely high ACT scores. The only thing I can find that makes some sense is dyspraxia (not verbal dyspraxia, although he did have that as a kid). This is not a diagnosis typically seen in the United States, but in the U.K. It describes how input of information is accurate, but the physical output doesn't match. I cannot find any help with this, so please anyone who has ideas, help.

You can’t make the assumption that is child doesn’t have a WM issue just cause they are in the average range. They could have abnormal distribution in the sub test.

Following with interest as my DS (age 8) has this profile and is struggling hugely with English in particular at homeschool. I’m at a loss to know what to do other than try some games to improve Working Memory which I discovered on Twinkl.

Hello there, I've been reading through some of the threads above and wondered if any of you have read a book by Thomas Armstrong, The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Differently Wired Brain. I am a third-year university student with dyslexia and this book has helped me to understand my differently wired brain and learning styles that suit the way I think. I'm now working on my Final Major Project at university and have chosen to explore the area of special educational needs (SEN) and virtual learning platforms. My project investigates tools that can be used with online learning platforms to help teacher support learners with SEN in an online classroom. I have created a survey which I would really appreciate your participation to assist me with the project, and if you know of any learners with a SEN condition, I would also value they input with the survey. forms.gle/XhLS66xWhSxXPnpN6

Thank you for your time.