Processing Deficits
What It Looks Like Academically
Phonemic Awareness:
Knowledge of sounds
structure of spoken
words
Phonological
Processing: Use of
phonological
information in
processing spoken or
written language.
Encompasses phonemic
& phonological
awareness.
Weak skills at any one of these levels will probably limit
development of later-developing skills. The following
skills are listed in order of development.
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Students may not distinguish among nonspeech environmental sounds (e.g. a beanbag
falling to the floor versus a plastic ball falling on
a wooden floor) or identify objects by the
sound they make.
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They may struggle with alliteration and rhyme,
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Challenges with manipulating phonemes (e.g.
isolating, segmenting, deleting, substituting,
and blending)
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Challenges with letter-sound correspondence
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Challenges with phonetic reading (sounding out
words and phonetic spelling
Students may have difficulty
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Understanding speech in noisy environments
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Following directions, and
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Discriminating (or telling the difference
between) similar-sounding speech sounds.
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Sometimes they may behave as if a hearing
loss is present, often asking for repetition or
clarification.
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In school, children with APD may have
difficulty with spelling, reading, and
understanding information presented verbally
in the classroom.
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Often their performance in classes that don’t
rely heavily on listening is much better, and
they typically are able to complete a task
independently once they know what is
expected of them.
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May have trouble decoding words
The student may experience challenges with
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Fluidity of movement (bumping into things, unable
to get out of the way)
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The student is restless during videos or visual
presentations.
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The student does not remember what he or she has
read silently
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The student rubs his or her eyes or complains that
his or her eyes are bothering him or her. The eyes
may be bothered because of the intensity needed to
decipher the visual material.
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The student’s reading level is below average.
Auditory Processing:
Ability to perceive,
analyze, synthesize &
discriminate speech
sounds.
Visual Processing:
Ability to perceive,
analyze, synthesize, &
think w/ visual patterns,
including storing &
recalling visual
representations.
Students (Disability category, Scores)
Processing Deficits
What It Looks Like Academically
Visual Processing
continued
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The student’s oral reading comprehension is better
than his or her silent reading comprehension.
In math, the student is inattentive to function signs,
omits steps in a formula, or confuses visually similar
formulas.
The student is a poor written speller, but is an
adequate oral speller.
The student does not observe visual changes or
stimuli that other children notice (e.g. bulletin board
displays, posted notices in obvious places).
The student’s directionality is weak, and the student
gets lost in unknown places, often copies numbers
reversed, inverted or transposed from the original.
The student’s reading level is below average.
The student’s work shows persistent spelling errors.
Visual discrimination
o Differentiating objects based on their
individual characteristics
o Seeing the difference between two similar
letters, shapes or objects
o Noticing the similarities and differences
between certain colors, shapes, symbols,
and patterns
o Recognizing an object as distinct from its
surrounding environment
o Accurately identify symbols,
o Gain information from pictures, charts, or
graphs, or be able to use visually
presented material in a productive way.
Visual memory
o Remembering the spelling of familiar
words with irregular spelling
o Reading comprehension
o Using a calculator or keyboard with speed
and accuracy
o Remembering phone numbers
Spatial relationships: reading and math are two
subjects where accurate perception and
understanding of spatial relationships are very
important because of their heavy reliance on
symbols
o Getting from one place to another
o Spacing letters and words on paper
o Judging time
Students (Disability category, Scores)
Processing Deficits
What It Looks Like Academically
o
o
o
Visual Processing
continued
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Reading maps
Copying skills
Being able to perceive words and numbers
as separate units, being able to perceive
that certain digits go together to make a
single number
o Maintaining shapes of letters consistently
o Perceiving that operational signs are
distinct from the numbers but
demonstrating a relationship between
them
o Some children can recognize shapes only
in 'standard' positions. They learn these as
prototypes and have difficulty modifying
these and seeing how transformations are
still examples of the concept.
o difficulty representing 3-dimensional
objects in 2-dimensions and difficulty
seeing 3-dimensional properties in 2dimensional models and diagrams
Form constancy
o Copying skills
Sequential memory
o Using a separate answer sheet
o Staying in the right place while reading a
paragraph
o Reversing or misreading letters, numbers,
and words
o Understanding math equations
o Spelling
Visual figure-ground
o Tracking and scanning
o Looking back for information in context
o Too much print on the page
Visual closure
o Recognizing a picture of a familiar object
from a partial image
Identifying a word with a letter missing
o Depth perception
o Drawing a face with all the features
Students (Disability category, Scores)
Processing Deficits
What It Looks Like Academically
Fluid Reasoning: Ability
to reason, form
concepts, & solve
problems, especially
when doing novel or an
unfamiliar situation.
Challenges here impact ALL academic areas. Specific
difficulties include use of less effective strategies for task
completion and ridged cognitive style. Any academic
content area that requires forming and recognizing
concepts, identifying and perceiving relationships,
drawing inferences, and reorganizing or transforming
information “problem solving”, deriving solutions to new
or novel problems (mental flexibility), extending
knowledge through critical thinking. Although inductive
and general sequential reasoning abilities play a
moderate role in reading comprehension, deductive
(general to specific thinking) and inductive (specific to
general thinking are consistently very important in math
(especially math reasoning) at all ages. Inductive and
general sequential reasoning abilities is related to basic
writing skills primarily during the elementary school year
and consistently related to written expression at all
times.
Reading Achievement: inferential comprehension, finding
the main idea, finding relationships (compare and
contrast, fact vs. opinion), inductive and general
sequential reasoning play a moderate role in reading
comprehension
Math Achievement: internalizing procedures and
processes used to solve problems, knowing when and
how to apply them to novel problems and relationships
between numbers; inductive and general sequential
reasoning are very important at all ages.
Writing Achievement: developing a theme, creating
passages that illustrate relationships between ideas such
as compare and contrast, fact; inductive and general
sequential reasoning are related to basic writing skills
primarily during elementary years and consistently
related to written expression at all ages.
Results of several recent studies show that attention
significantly influences WM, particularly when students
must encode information (e.g., when a student is
listening to a lesson on various cloud formations).
Attention controls the amount of time a student needs to
maintain information in WM, especially in visual WM.
Attention: focusing on
& responding to certain
stimuli in the
environment. Attention
"is the taking
possession of the mind,
in clear and vivid form,
of one out of what may
seem several
simultaneously possible
objects or trains of
thoughts…It implies
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Difficulty remaining on task
Difficulty focusing attention in distracting situations
Disruptive behaviors
Students (Disability category, Scores)
Processing Deficits
What It Looks Like Academically
withdrawal from some
things in order to deal
effectively with others."
Controlled by Executive
Functioning.
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Students with ADD/ADHD present the following
challenges for teachers:
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Short Term Memory:
Ability to apprehend &
hold information in
immediate awareness &
use w/ in a few
seconds.
Difficulty organizing materials
They demand attention by talking out of turn or
moving around the room.
They have trouble following instructions, especially
when they’re presented in a list.
They often forget to write down homework
assignments, do them, or bring completed
work to school.
They often lack fine motor control, which makes
note-taking difficult and handwriting a trial to read.
They often have trouble with operations that
require ordered steps, such as long division
or solving equations.
They usually have problems with long-term projects
where there is no direct supervision.
They don’t pull their weight during group work and
may even keep a group from accomplishing its task.
Most obvious classroom implication CAN’T FOLLOW
DIRECTIONS
Memory span is important in spelling, so poor spelling.
Working memory is important in development
of written expression, reading comprehension,
and math problem solving, so the student may struggle
here.
Students (Disability category, Scores)
Processing Deficits
What It Looks Like Academically
Working Memory:
Interface between input
& output. Uses
information in short
term or retrieves from
long term memory,
performs an action
stores new product in
long term or constructs
response.
Verbal (auditory) working memory: anytime students are
expected to follow a multi-step set of oral instructions.
May not be able to keep the instruction in mind while
working with them. Also required when learning
language and comprehension tasks.
Visual-spatial working memory: allows you to envision
something; students use this skill to do math and to
remember patterns, images, and sequences of events;
use to visualize the layout of the classroom (ex: after this,
go to the center area); might seem as though the child is
simply not paying attention.
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Appears to be daydreaming
Fails to complete assignments
Puts hand up to answer but forgets what he wanted
to say
Mixes up material inappropriately, combining
sentences
Forgets how to continue an activity already started
Feels the teacher is talking too fast, eventually
disengage
Comprehension
Sounding out words while reading
Students (Disability category, Scores)
Processing Deficits
What It Looks Like Academically
Long-Term Storage and
Retrieval
Long-Term Memory:
Different types exist.
Relies on short-term
and working memories.
Learning:
Crystallized: The
breadth and depth of a
person’s acquired
knowledge of a culture
and the effective
application of this
knowledge.
While this student might learn information adequately,
the student may nonetheless demonstrate difficulty
efficiently retrieving it for use in future situations. Long
term retrieval difficulties likely vary, however, for
different types of information.
Learning: storage
Crystallized: retrieval
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Student may have difficulty with tasks that require
use of information that has been previously learned
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Can result in secondary deficits (low self-esteem)
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Rely more heavily on visual codes
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Difficulty determining which information is relevant
to keep in mind
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May have difficulty remembering information
learned in words: instruction, lectures, reading;
information of particular difficulty may include
lists of facts and rules (grammar, spelling,
sciences)
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Difficulty remembering schedules, instructions from
parents or teachers, sequences (dance)
Difficulty remembering information from maps,
following directions
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Reading: trouble remembering letter sounds, unable
to remember or apply spelling rules, coding, storage,
retrieval of associations between spoken and
written words
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Math: executive processing, difficulty memorizing
facts, geometric figures, formulas, charts graphs
Executive Functioning:
Processes that selfdirect or control
cognitive resources and
processing.
Planning;
Metacognition: Goal
setting and selection of
strategies. When an
individual consciously
uses executive control
processes.
Use it to perform activities such as planning, organizing,
strategizing, paying attention to and remembering
details, and managing time and space.
In the classroom, the tasks most frequently impacted are
written expression and reading.
Metacognition: Making the decision to write down a list
because you can’t remember everything.
A reader with good metacognition will be aware of when
they come to a word they don’t know or doesn’t make
sense. Poor readers don’t detect errors in the text and
are unaware that they are lacking comprehension as they
read.
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Difficulty and/or lack of interest in setting goals,
little sense of pleasure in making progress towards a
Students (Disability category, Scores)
Processing Deficits
What It Looks Like Academically
EF continued
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goal
Difficulty taking initiative
Motivated by immediate needs
Inability to reflect on past experience to plan for the
future
May continue to use the same strategy to solve a life
problem, even when it has already proven
ineffective
Doesn’t learn to stop and select a strategy that best
fits a problem before trying to solve it
Poor frustration tolerance, gives up easily when
frustrated
Sees personal problems as externally caused, unable
to see his/her own contribution to the problem
Difficulty taking other’s perspective, or point of view
Keep track of time and finish work on time
Planning projects
Keep track of more than one thing at once
Meaningfully include past knowledge in discussions
Telling stories (verbal or written), struggling to
communicate details in an organized, sequential
manner
Evaluate ideas and reflect on work
Change mind and make mid-course corrections
while thinking, reading, and writing
Ask for help or seek more information when needed
Engage in group dynamics
Wait to speak until called on
Memorize and retrieve information from memory
Initiate activities or tasks, generate ideas
independently
Retain information while doing something with it
(remember phone number while dialing)
Analyzing sights, sounds, and physical sensory
information
Anticipating consequences
Mentally evaluating possible outcomes of different
problem-solving strategies
Choosing most appropriate action based on social
expectations and norms
Poor number sense and spatial attention
Difficulty evaluating the plausibility of a response
(2x4=24)
Poor magnitude comparison
Students (Disability category, Scores)
Processing Deficits
What It Looks Like Academically
Processing Speed:
Speed at which an
individual performs
relatively easy or
overlearned cognitive
tasks.
This affects ability to copy, complete academic
assignments in a timely manner, take notes with speed
and ease or express self quickly and efficiently. Attention
is a prerequisite condition to processing speed.
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Fluency in performance of cognitive tasks
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Response is slower than average on all types of tasks
regardless of assignment or subject.
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Fluency in reading, writing, and math are connected
to processing speed. Slow processing speed can
reduce reading fluency/rate and as a result impair
reading comprehension.
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The student works at a slow rate on simple or rote
tasks that are typically automatic in nature.
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Slow processing speed can significantly reduce the
rate of task completion and make long tasks
unreasonably difficult to complete. Frustration or
boredom can result.
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Lengthy assignments may result in the student
spending unreasonable amounts of time completing
work.
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With a beginning reader, slow processing speed can
impede the time to decode a word. As a result,
greater demands are placed on working memory
causing the decoding process to fail.
To understand how the information that is provided fits
into a coherent whole. We must teach them to be aware
of this important ability. Even though it may take a little
time, it will help them understand more completely.
Reading:
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The words in each sentence need to be understood
in relation to all the others. Sentences in each
paragraph must be considered in relation to all the
others. Comprehension of a paragraph demands
seeing how the parts fit into the whole.
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Drawing a picture about what they wrote or read,
seeing how each part, color, and design fits to make
the artwork meaningful. Relating the picture to what
was read or written requires the student to
understand the story and how the parts are
interrelated.
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Failure to recognize sight words quickly
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Failure to interpret word, sentence, or passage
meaning
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Difficulty with seeing the shapes of words or
working with spatial tasks
Simultaneous
Processing: Integration
of separate stimuli into
a conceptual whole in
which all of the
elements of the stimuli
are interrelated.
Students (Disability category, Scores)
Processing Deficits
Successive Processing:
Stimuli are arranged in
a specific serial order
that forms a chainlike
progression in which
each stimulus is only
related to the one it
follows.
What It Looks Like Academically
Writing:
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Organize the information into a whole picture and
then present the text according to the big picture.
Math:
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Seeing patterns as a whole Students who see
patterns when doing math will be better able to
understand how mathematics works and how math
concepts are applied, and even learn basic facts
more easily. Example: to recognize a shape in a
collection of lines that forms a cube.
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Failure to see patterns in text or math problems
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Failure to comprehend math word problems
To recognize that information is often organized in a
specific sequence and learning that sequence is key to
success. Words are made by the proper sequence of
sounds, sentences are understandable only when the
words are sequenced correctly, math problems must be
done in a particular order, and so forth.
Reading: when decoding and encoding the student must
recognize how the information is sequenced. Sequence
of sounds in a word. Sequence of order of the words,
especially to answer questions. The order of the words
drives the meaning of the sentence. The order of the
letters and the correspondence of those letters to letter
sounds are critical for decoding and spelling.
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Poor word decoding skills
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Failure to comprehend syntax structure
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Lack of comprehension of the sequence of
events in a story
Math: Memorizing the basic addition and multiplication
facts is often very dependent upon learning information
in a specific order. When a student is taught basic facts
by rote memory, the child remembers the specific
statement, which is based on the recall of those words in
that specific order. May not know turn around facts,
commutative property.
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Difficulty with following steps or tendency to
omit steps needed to solve problems
*Learning & Crystallized combined with Long-Term Memory
Students (Disability category, Scores)