Processing Difficulties in Children: How Your Child Takes In Information

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-09-28

What has to happen first

A child sits down to a page. Several things have to happen before anything academic does. The eyes have to keep their place along the line. The teacher's voice has to stand out from the noise in the room. Part of an instruction has to be held in mind while the rest arrives. And all of it has to happen fast enough to keep up with the class.

One or more of these can be hard. In our experience, they rarely show up as themselves. They show up as not listening, or never finishing. Or as knowing something yesterday and not today.

The seven the questions ask about

These are the seven skills the Learning Success questions ask about. The seven are our own grouping. They are not a way to diagnose a child. They are not a list from anyone else.

Visual processing. Making sense of what the eyes take in. That includes telling similar letters apart and keeping your place along a line. It also includes holding a word in mind long enough to write it. A child's eyes can test fine, and this can still be hard.

Auditory processing. Making sense of what the ears take in. That includes telling similar sounds apart, and following one voice in a busy room. It also includes holding what was just said long enough to use it. A child's hearing can test fine, and this can still be hard.

Working memory. Holding something in mind while you use it. Following a two-part instruction is one example. A child who loses a two-part instruction may follow a one-part instruction perfectly.

Processing speed. How fast a child takes something in and responds. From the front of the class, a slow answer can look like no answer.

Proprioception. Knowing where your body is without looking. Signs can include bumping into things, fidgeting, and pressing too hard or too lightly with a pencil.

Executive function. As we describe it, this is a set of everyday jobs. They get work started and keep it on track. We name five. The first three are starting a task, keeping track of materials and steps, and judging time. The other two are changing course when the plan changes, and noticing how it is going. Some children know what to do and cannot start.

Emotional regulation. What happens when the work gets hard. In the families we work with, it often shapes what parents see. That is why we include it.

You may see two names on a report from a school or a specialist. Processing speed is one of our seven, above. Sensory processing is not on our list by that name. It is sometimes used as the name of a disorder. In 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) wrote: "Because there is no universally accepted framework for diagnosis, sensory processing disorder generally should not be diagnosed." If your child's report uses the phrase, ask what the writer saw your child do.

As of September 2026, only a formal evaluation can get a US child an IEP or 504 plan. If you suspect a vision, hearing or medical cause, get that checked too.

This is not learning styles

Some people think each child has a preferred way of taking things in. On that idea, a child should be taught that way. A 2008 review found almost no evidence that matching teaching to learning styles helps. A 2024 review judged any gain too small and too rare to adopt widely.

Showing material in more than one way is good teaching for every child. Say it, write it and show it. To us, the part that does not hold up is choosing one way to suit one child.

Our question is a different one. Which skill is not built yet? Which one should come first? Our position is that this is a question of order, not of style.

When a child "does not listen"

Some children hear every word when you are close. In a busy room, they lose the teacher. That is not always tuning out. The voice they need is there. It may not stand out from the rest of the room. You may hear this called auditory figure-ground discrimination. It means following a voice when there is background noise.

From the front of the class, that child can look inattentive. At the kitchen table, two feet away, they look fine. Both views are accurate. They are about different settings.

In our experience, what everyone sees is often a long way from what is causing it. That is true of the other skills in our seven too.

What helps

Work the skill directly. Practice reaches the thing it is practice at. Suppose a program promises better reading or math from an exercise that is not reading or math. Check that claim. The exercise may still be worth doing for its own sake.

Pair it with the subject work. Our processing work runs alongside reading, spelling or math instruction, not in place of it. Do both.

Short and finished. In the families we work with, a short piece that ends in success sets up the next try. In our experience, a long one that ends in a fight sets up an argument about tomorrow.

Reduce the load while the skill is built. Write instructions down as well as saying them. Give one step at a time. Ask for a printed copy instead of copying from the board. None of that is cheating. Our position is that reducing the load does not stop the skill being built.