A major concern at FamilyLight ^sm has been the correlation between slow processing speed and young people in need of a therapeutic program and/or significant behavioral intervention. For students who do not develop other behavioral and psychological issues as a result of slow processing, we see a very high rate of students shutting down with respect to anything having to do with school by age 16.  

I have long had suspicions there was an issue with slow processing, having noticed an abnormally large share of our clients with emotional difficulties having a low score on the coding subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, going back to when the third edition was still the authorized version.   In the summer of 2007, in a telephone conversation with Sally Woodhall, she explained the problem to me from her perspective.  Sally was/is the founder of the Woodhall School.  Although now retired, she was Headmaster at the time of the conversation.  

What Sally told me made excellent sense, but we have been able to find little in the way of documentation to back it up.  However, we have found that learning disability experts who have worked with these kids very consistently supported what Sally had to say. We also saw a pattern of success when the students involved were given schooling by people who understood the problem and the remedy as Sally had explained it.  And we saw a rising number of students who were casualties of failure to address slow processing problems.

In my experience .  .  .    I'd better explain what "in my experience" means.  Since 1993 I have been an educational consultant.  Since 1971 I have worked in various capacities with young people with behavioral and/or emotional problems.  Prior to that I was a college admission officer and academic advisor to enrolled students.   I am not a credentialed educator or mental health professional.  I do not claim to be a Learning Disabilities expert.  I am simply writing from my experience.  I welcome both affirmations and challenges from greater experts on the topic and especially I welcome research.  I will report observations and insights that are not, to my knowledge, contradicted by research.

In my experience, students with a 15 point or greater discrepancy (one standard deviation for the statisticians among us) between their Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) and Processing Speed Index (PSI) on a Wechsler IQ test (WISC-IV or WAIS-IV) are at risk for difficulties in this area, possibly needing the kind of accommodations and support that Merridee Michelsen recommends in her article on slow processing.   If the discrepancy is 3o points or more (two standard deviations) then the these accommodations are very important and parents should not accept less. 

If the student is in private school, only a private school that will offer those accommodations should be considered.  If in public school, an IEP consistent with those accommodations should be demanded.  if there are behavioral issues and special schooling to address the behavioral issues is under consideration, only schools for behavioral issues that also work with students with these kinds of processing speed issues and offering these kinds of accommodations should be considered.

I have encountered educators and psychologists who tell us that if the processing speed score is in the average range (near 100), then processing speed is not an issue even if there is a discrepancy.  I disagree and our advisors who are more expert than I in tell me I should disagree.   Some tell me that the scores to compare are PSI against Full Scale IQ.  Again, I and my advisors disagree.  A very bright student with an off the charts elevated VCI and a solid average PSI, but with a 30 or 40 point difference between the two will still get overwhelmed and be in need of the remedies Dr. Michelsen calls for.  

Special education certification, and a Ph. D degree are not clues as to whether or not any particular professional is skilled in dealing with this issue.  Only experience and/or  benefit from the experience of others will create competence with children or young adults with these issues. 

When there is some doubt about about processing speed scores, some other test results can be useful.  For example, fluency scores on a Woodcock-Johnson usually mirror processing speed.

When we see processing speed issues, we usually also see an ADHD diagnosis, frequently with a child being reported that medications usually effective with ADHD have no effect.  Many professionals tell us that slow processing is often a consequence of ADHD.  We acknowledge that both do happen frequently in the same child, but probably just as frequently we have a child who is a slow processor who behaves like a child with with ADHD, but becomes asymptomatic when proper accommodations for slow processing are put in place and is not responsive to ADHD medications.  There is a name for that. That name is "misdiagnosis." 

When processing speed is not properly attended to, we usually see a child who has never liked school, is really struggling in school by age 12 and simply refuses to go to school by age 16.   Children like this  are lacking in self confidence and self esteem.  They are also traumatized by having been told over and over again by parents and teachers that "You aren't trying." or "You are capable of better work."  These children create the appearance of having the capability that is suggested by their VCI score but can only output what is suggested by their PSI.   Therefore parents and teachers tend to demand VCI results and the child can only output PSI results. This results in the child feeling like a loser, seeking only losers as companions, and engaging with great enthusiasm in loser behavior.  Very large numbers of these students become heavily involved in drugs.   Often they are sent to programs for behavioral change without considering the processing issues and their are no long term positive results. 

We want to make special note of the relationship between marijuana and slow processing.  When we speak with people in substance abuse programs, they tend to say, "Sure, we see a lot of that.  Marijuana slows processing.  We handle that well"  They are correct -- partially.  In our experience most programs that respond that way do not really "get it" and tend to give learning support as they might provide it to an ADHD student, neglecting to consider that this calls for intense specialized services, that may still be needed after the drugs are out of the system.  

Heavy marijuana use also leads to shutting down with schoolwork.   The results of heavy marijuana use and the results of slow processing look alike.   But either can exist independently of the other.   No one should ever assume that slow processing is simply a result of drug use and will go away with sobriety, although that will happen in some situations.  If the slow processing was already in place and the issues noted in the previous paragraph were a factor in motivating the marijuana use, you have a major relapse trigger to deal with until the kinds of accommodations Merridee Michelsen proposes are in place and the person has discovered they can learn.   To introduce that kind of support is an essential part of the ther rehab process.  

We strongly urge parents, educators,  and referring professionals to pay very close attention to processing speed issues, demand proper accommodations for the young people with these issues, and not attempt behavioral or therapeutic intervention with such young people without placing proper remediation for slow processing at the center of the agenda.

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Disclaimer: No  program review, no matter how positive, is a blanket endorsement. No criticism is a blanket condemnation.  When we express our level of confidence in a school or program, that is our subjective opinion with which others might reasonably disagree.  When we assert something as fact, we have done our best to be accurate, but we cannot guarantee that all of our information is accurate and up to date. When we address compliance with our guidelines, you need to remember that these are only OUR guidelines -- not guidelines from an official source.  We have also set the bar very high, and do not expect any school or program to be in total compliance.  It is not appropriate to draw a conclusion of impropriety (or even failure to live up to conventional wisdom) from our lack of confidence in a school or program or from less than perfect conformity to our guidelines.  Some will say we expect too much. Readers are responsible for verifying accuracy of information supplied here prior to acting upon it. We are not responsible for inaccuracies.

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Last updated 9-13-2010