I agree that having a fast processing speed is a good thing, but for some folks (my dd is one of them) it also means that you get so used to working fast that you don't slow down, and you might make silly mistakes - dd does this all the time. She almost never makes errors in calculations etc but she will sometimes miss an entire problem (ie, not do it) simply because she's speeding along and doesn't notice it, or she'll write down the opposite of what the question asked because she's reading fast, that kind of thing. So when you ask what other kids who are like this do when they finish their work, for our 3rd grader, we have her go back and re-check the work she just finished to make sure she didn't make any of those type of mistakes!
I also think it's not necessarily all "processing speed" at play - it's easy to think it's processing speed when a student (or adult) completes work really quickly, but it could be a different component of intelligence that's what's really up - could be working memory (my lightning-quick dd also has a relatively high WM), or it could be knowledge/thinking ability. My EG ds has a relatively low processing speed (as measured on IQ testing) and his WM is also lower than his VCI/PRI; he definitely doesn't write or output in any format quickly, and he needs extended time on math tests to show his work. But, otoh, he grasps new concepts exceptionally quickly, blaze through standardized tests amazingly quickly if he is able to answer on the computer and still get 99+%ile scores.
polarbear
