My child (8 years old) has a low processing speed compared to all his other scores - a 1 SD difference. This impacts him when he is required to write detailed answers to questions at school and when he is asked to write essays. He says that it took him "too long to think". At school, he gets anxious during timed tests where he has to write detailed answers - most commonly in science and literature where there are questions like "why do you think so?" and "what is your opinion or conclusion?". When it is untimed and the setting is one-on-one, he comes up with very well thought out answers. But, in school he is known to panic and write any thought that pops up in his mind just to finish these tests.
I asked him if it was OK for me to ask for accommodations - and he refuses because he is sensitive to being different from other kids. I am wondering how I can help him improve his processing speed if at all possible. Some things that we have done that have impacted this issue in a positive way are: math fact automaticity, lots of handwriting practice, musical training (sight reading, using metronomes etc). He does not struggle in math to finish on time. But, he does struggle when the writing requirements are high. TIA!
