Tracy Packiam Alloway, PhD

What’s the difference between having ADHD and poor working memory? Children with ADHD not only have trouble sitting still and are often acting out, teachers usually comment that their classroom performance is poor and they often forget vital information, such as instructions, the right books for their classes, where they need to be. Do they have poor working memory?

Yes. One of the most consistent findings in scientific studies is that children with ADHD have very poor working memory, particularly when they have to remember visual information, such as graphs or images. As part of a government-funded project that I lead, I found that children with ADHD were 4x more likely to have working memory problems compared to their peers without attention problems. This has serious impacts on their learning. As a result of their working memory problems, they will struggle in the classroom.

This doesn’t mean that all children with poor working memory have ADHD. In fact, as part of a different government-funded project, I found that children with poor working memory (that don’t have ADHD) are actually NOT impulsive or hyperactive. They aren’t disrupting the class, they aren’t bouncing off the walls. As a result, the teacher doesn’t notice there is a problem. At least not until it’s too late. Not until they start failing because they haven’t grasped key concepts in the lesson or can’t understand what to do and how to do it.

Ultimately, both students with ADHD and those with poor working memory need our help. Addressing their behavior won’t bring lasting change to learning.  Supporting their working memory is the only way to help make sense of what goes on in the classroom. Find out more about testing and supporting working memory.