Many teens and college students find it difficult to keep up with the pace of taking notes, completing tests in a timely fashion, and finishing their homework on time. While these same students are usually very capable and intelligent, they may put themselves down and often feel inadequate. Many of you who have encountered these difficulties may be experiencing slow processing speed. Simply put, it may take you a bit longer to do simple tasks such as writing your notes, reading a book chapter, or doing math computation. But you do very well when given enough time – or with the help of technologies or effective cognitive skills. 

In many ways, the worst thing about slow processing speed is that it can make kids feel dumb and not as good as their peers. But you can get to work on compensating for slow processing speed when you understand what it is and learn about the causes and impact of this. And you can put yourself in situations where slow processing speed has little or no impact. First, though, you need to know more about it.

The following articles were written for teens and college students to help with 

understanding strategies and tools to improve processing speed and developing workarounds that minimize the impact of slow processing speed.

Slow Processing Speed: What Does This Mean For My Teen? Written for both parents and teens about the impact of slow processing speed.

Using Videos to Explain Slow Processing Speed to Kids. A collection of videos that explain the nature of slow processing speed.

What Causes Slow Processing Speed? The neuroscience of slow processing speed, with links to the basic references. 

Working Memory, Processing Speed, and Taking Notes: The Kitchen Sink. The relationship between working-memory skills and processing speed.