Living with a Weak Working Memory

I have to admit, I had never really heard much about working memory or how it figured into learning until it was shown that my middle son had issues with it during some testing we had done last year. I had to do some research and reading so I could fully understand how it worked and how an issue with it was impacting my child.

Due to the fact that my oldest has autism and other issues, and my middle has ADHD and learning challenges, I’ve become so full of medical and technical jargon that I get desperate sometimes for it all to be simplified so I can sort it all out. Basically working memory involves remembering and bringing up information you’ve learned in order to use it for tasks, solving problems, etc.

When someone struggles with working memory, the information can slip away and important pieces are forgotten. Apparently working memory issues are very common in people with ADHD. That sure was nice to know. It affects attention, too. So not only do those with ADHD already have problems paying attention, but they may also have the problem of working memory issues affecting their attention in a negative manner as well.

This is an ongoing research project for me in the way of trying to find what works to help my son overcome this particular challenge. One of the main things we do right now is play the game Memory. It’s a good old-fashioned game to help work on a person’s memory.

There are some sites out there that offer memory games that your child can play to help work on this issue. One of those sites is www.lumosity.com and another is www.memorise.org. The National Center for Learning Disabilities is an awesome site with a wealth of information about how to help a child with a weak working memory along with other learning challenges.

It’s also important to know that working memory is part of executive functioning. Again, this is still a research in progress for me. But it’s helpful to learn about it, because then you can see how working memory ties in. The bigger picture makes so much more sense at that point.