What is ‘working memory’ and why is it so important?
The other day my dyslexic, dysgraphic, and dyscalculic son and I were sitting having breakfast together and we got to talking about some of the things he has been finding hard to manage at his job recently. The most prevalent thing on his mind was how he thought he had a bad memory. He relayed to me how hard he finds it to remember what he has been told to do for the entire day, or what to do when he has finished a particular job (i.e. then next thing to move on to). I felt slightly taken aback, and also sad that I had not passed on or taught him about the role of working memory, and in fact that his dyslexia diagnosis showed he had a weak working memory.
According to the International Dyslexia Association, approximately 10% of us have a weak working memory, and if you have a specific learning disorder like dyslexia, the stats rise to approximately 20 – 50%.
Working Memory Defined:
Working memory involves holding and manipulating information over short periods of time and unlike rote memory, it’s active and essential for tasks like following multi-step directions or mental arithmetic. Our working memory is limited, both in capacity and duration. (typically 6-7 bits of information and a duration of a few seconds).
There are impacts to a weak working memory. In the classroom, you may see students struggle with multi-step tasks, lose track of instructions, and appear distractible. This is essentially what my son struggles with OUT of the classroom and in the workforce. On top of this, weak working memory affects reading comprehension, written language, and math processing.
The many characteristics can include trouble planning and organising tasks, difficulty with focused attention, and retaining task steps. On a deeper level, people with weak working memory may also have low self-esteem and struggle with social interactions in group settings.
Once I explained this to my son it was like a lightbulb moment for him, and we set about discussing some of the steps he can take at work to ensure he is factoring in his weak working memory. For example:
– recording the jobs he has to do as voice notes to refer back to
– taking pictures of the work he is doing to support with detailed explanations of where he needs advice
– taking pictures of products he is sent to the shop to buy
– getting his instructions in chunks of 2 – 3 tasks, knowing he can go back to his boss for the next set of tasks when needed.
The challenges of dyslexia and the accompanying learning profiles do not go away once a dyslexic person leaves school, they follow in the workforce. It’s important we understand the different types of dyslexia, especially those those with an accompanying weak working memory.
To write this post, I referred to “Working Memory: The Engine for Learning” by the International Dyslexia Association.