For been-there-done-that parents what did you find helpful to understanding how a slow processing speed affects DS or DD?
I found it more helpful to instead look for reasons why the processing speed subtests are relatively low, rather than think of it solely as "low processing speed". There are many different reasons the WISC subtest scores might be low, and the key to understanding which accommodations will be helpful and what remediation is or isn't needed is all tied up in understanding the why behind the score.
Did your ds' psych-ed eval include any additional testing such as visual-motor integration, executive function, etc and/or a review of his classroom work, written work etc? Were any thoughts shared with you from the psych re why his processing speed might test low?
Many consider DS neurotypical, even though he is classified as speech and language impaired.
My guess is that perhaps the two are actually inter-related (slow processing speed test score and speech language challenges. This is just one example, may not be anything at all related to what you've observed in your ds, but fwiw my ds16 has a diagnosis of Developmental Coordination Disorder, and has both fine motor and speech language challenges related to the DCD. He has a low processing speed subtest score for coding the WISC, because he can't physically make marks with a pencil quickly. He is also sometimes very slow to respond verbally to a prompt - that's not tied to his processing speed subtest score, but it is tied to his speech/language challenge - and both the fine motor and speech issues are due to his DCD. So he has a low processing speed score on the WISC, but when we look to remediate/accommodate/help him, and when I describe his changes to other people, I don't think of it or describe it as "slow processing speed", I look at it through the lens of how DCD impacts him.
Would also love to hear the long term effects of not recognizing the slow processing speed.
Specific impacts would be things not learned/remediated - and that's going to be specific to the root cause of his low processing speed score. A general impact that can happen when a child goes for many years with an undiagnosed or unrecognized learning challenge can be an impact on self-esteem and self-confidence. Sometimes students with large variations in scores begin to only see themselves through the lens of their challenge, and if that challenge limits their ability to show their knowledge and have access to challenging work, they may begin to believe they're either not capable of it or not worthy of it. When children are in early elementary it can be especially difficult because the children don't yet have the life experience to realize what's up and will compare themselves to the nt students all around them and feel like they are failures - that's basically what happened with my ds before his diagnosis.
Best wishes,
polarbear
