by Bob Doman

Neurodevelopmental Processing and Neurodevelopmental Processing Deficits are terms needed to help people understand the significance of processing and processing inadequacies, or deficits. Neurodevelopmental processing deficits are becoming ubiquitous because of numerous factors that limit the perception of what could be and factors that limit the opportunities needed for the development of strong processing.

Neurodevelopmental processing, or simply “processing,” is a term referencing mental cognitive functions that include the ability to learn from what we see and the words that we hear, as well as what we can remember, mentally manipulate, and use to think and function. These components include short-term memory, working memory, long-term memory, executive function, and fluid intelligence. These pieces are part of the whole which determine our brain’s processing ability, cognition, and simply how smart we are.

An NPD, or neurodevelopmental processing deficit, is simply not having the processing power appropriate for your age or the demands placed on you educationally, needed to meet requirements for daily living, healthy social interaction, or work/career. Neurodevelopmental processing grows as a natural process, but the rate of development, degree of development, and later sustainability and further enhancement can be impacted through opportunity and intervention.

I use the equation IP+E=F.  Our innate intelligence to the power of our processing ability, plus educational opportunity and knowledge, determines our function, or simply how smart we are. Our innate intelligence is generally untapped, and our ability to develop our processing function is essentially unlimited. We all have the potential to be smarter, much smarter, and to function at higher levels.

Processing is something that typically develops from birth to about nine or ten years of age. There is often a slight progression from the age of ten to our twenties, and then there is usually a slow decline throughout the rest of our lives, if not for intervention or exceptional use of these functions.

From lack of maturity, inappropriate behaviors, and receptive and expressive language issues to problems with learning, difficulty with social interaction, and later to problems with job performance and interpersonal relationships, often the underlying issue is processing function that is inadequate for the expected or needed level of function.

Processing develops through opportunity, stimulation, and input. For children the first years of life are vitally important. The quality and quantity of 1:1 input and interaction largely determine how targeted the input and how effective the environment and opportunities are for the developing child. Factors that limit quality input negatively impact the development of processing. Some of the limiting factors include lack of the most fundamental piece affecting this development, i.e. 1:1 positive interaction with parents. A child provides parents with instantaneous feedback as to whether the input they are receiving is appropriate and stimulating and targeted or not; and parents innately respond and modify their interaction. This 1:1 interaction can produce targeted input, meaning input that specifically fits that individual at that point in time. The further we get from targeted input, the less effectively the child’s environment develops their processing function. Even trying to interact and be targeted with two children of the same age and keeping them both engaged can be challenging. What about 1:5, or 1:10, or even 1:30? The younger the child and the lower the processing level, the more difficult it is to provide them with targeted input. Opportunity is that which produces neurodevelopmental processing.

There are many factors which produce NPDs, including the decline of the family unit, an increase in the number of working mothers, limited expectations, negative societal influences, decline of reading ability, addictions to screens, inferior educational practices, and sensory processing issues, as well as the increase in labels and “diseases” that limit expectations.

For five decades we have assessed and worked with neurodevelopmental processing with tens of thousands of individuals, covering the full range of individuals from babies to geriatrics, as well as the full spectrum of developmental issues and labels from brain injury, autism, Down syndrome, dyslexia, and ADHD, to the “gifted.” Utilizing interventions, which have included many 1:1 activities, apps, and software such as our Simply Smarter program, it is unquestionable that anyone at any age can improve their processing ability and improve their overall function.

Significance for Those with Developmental Issues

To varying degrees, NPDs are significant, or the primary factors, in determining the level of function in the entire population; but they may have the greatest impact on all of those with developmental delays or issues.

ADHD

The primary issue for many if not most children labeled as having ADHD is an inadequate level of processing. If you have a ten-year-old child with the processing function of a four- or five-year-old, which is not unusual, and even possibly having good innate intelligence, you have a child with the attention span of a four- or five-year-old, the distractibility of a four- or five-year-old, the lack of executive function exhibited by most four- or five-year-olds, and often the maturity and behavioral issues associated with four- or five-year-olds. The “diagnosis” of ADHD is a checklist that essentially characterizes a typical younger child. Should we be using medications to slow down four- or five-year-olds so they can sit and attend longer? Then why do it with that with those labeled as ADHD, when we can easily address the common cause of the issue– a neurodevelopmental processing deficit? The medical disease model implies some mysterious, underlying limiting factor in these individuals. There can be contributing dietary factors, as well as issues related to their home, school environments, and negative behavior patterns; but the most common issue with the vast majority labeled with ADHD, this perceived incurable disease, is simply a processing inadequacy, and particularly an auditory sequential processing problem. Their processing ability is inadequate for the demands of their chronological age. We establish patterns of behaviors in our early lives. If processing has not been developed adequately when we are young, it can result in attention and behavior patterns that can remain with us for the rest of our lives. Patterns can be changed, but first we need to address the underlying issue, the processing deficit.

Autism Spectrum Disorders

The severity of those placed on the autism spectrum is essentially measured by the degree of sensory dysfunction, as well as the degree to which the child is not present and engaged, or engaged in DSAs, debilitating sensory addictive behaviors. Sensory issues impair the child’s ability to participate in, engage in, and learn from their environment; and this directly impacts their ability to develop their processing abilities. The impaired processing and related lack of engagement leads to varying degrees of global immaturity, poor receptive and expressive language, difficulty understanding and relating to people, and lack of executive function, etc. Foundational to improving the function of those on the spectrum or getting them off the spectrum is addressing their processing inadequacies. The higher their processing, the higher their global level of function. The primary difference between those on the various levels of the spectrum is processing level.

Down Syndrome

Children and adults with Down syndrome have NPDs, and their overall level of function can universally be determined by their processing level. Low functioning individuals with Down syndrome have low processing function, and those given the opportunity to develop “typical” processing levels can function in” typical” ranges. Processing can be improved in every individual with Down syndrome, at any age, and their global function and independence developed with it, if given the opportunity.

Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Other Learning Disabilities and Issues

Children learn differently, and a significant component in those differences reflects inefficiencies in auditory and/or visual processing and one size fits all curriculum.  Children will generally get labeled as having a learning related disability if they are seen as having “normal” intelligence, but have a problem learning to read, or doing math, or learning in general. These problems can often be remediated and fixed by identifying and addressing their processing issues and by modifying the approach to better fit their individual strengths, while remediating their weakness.  Having seen literally thousands of such children go from having issues to being at the head of the class in a short time bears testament to where potential really lies, if the children are given the help they need to turn their weaknesses into strengths.

Behavior Problems and Disorders

Behavior problems are becoming increasingly prevalent, largely as a reflection of societal trends which have impacted the role of parents and family and decreased such fundamentals as teaching children that there are consequences to their behavior, teaching them responsibility, and developing independence. There is, however, often some level of issue relative to sequential processing that impacts their global maturity, ability to process directions, and the development of executive function. Behavior issues and resolution require a thorough understanding of the whole child, including the family situation, parenting, schools, and other influences. Addressing any NPDs improves their executive function and helps to address their behavior issues.

Average/Typical Joe

There is no more limiting perception of individual potential than being viewed as “average” or “typical.” The vast majority of the population fits into this category. Being “average” or “typical” limits expectations and opportunity. “Average/typical” is generally perceived to be simply a reflection of innate intelligence. It is not! Every “average/typical” adult or child is not restricted by innate potential. With rare exception, all our innate potentials are sufficient to develop super levels of function if provided with the opportunity to develop our processing.

IP+E=F

Your innate potential to the power of your processing ability plus your E (education/knowledge) determines your functional intelligence– how smart you are.

Using the tools to develop processing should be at or near the top of every child’s curriculum and parent’s priority. Everyone trying to improve the quality of their lives can and should work to be simply smarter, and they can.

We have the tools to help everyone function better, and we need to use them.

Related Posts

Processing Power: What Every Parent Needs to Know

Parenting 101: Processing, Behavior, and Maturity

California- They’re Not Dreamin, They’re Doing! Getting Serious About Processing and Working Memory

Time to Upgrade Your Processor: Building Better Brains

If You Can’t See It, You Can’t Achieve It

•             Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 39 No. 5, 2025 ©NACD

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Your computer’s CPU, or Central Processing Unit, carries out instructions and performs calculations that run programs and operate the computer system. This processor collects information from computer memory, decodes, executes operations, and stores results. The better your processor, essentially the better your computer.

Our combined internal processor and CPU, our brain, gathers information through our senses, associates that input with information stored in our memories, and then performs all associated functions—learning, thinking, planning, organization, self- regulation, inhibitory control functions, and cognitive flexibility. 

Every day we hear more about AI, Artificial Intelligence, the future. AI is the technology that enables computers to act more like brains, to carry out advanced functions, and perform functions that would normally require human intelligence, including learning, understanding language, problem solving, making recommendations, and more. While all this development is taking place, we are ignoring the development of HI- Human Intelligence.

As the world works hard to create smarter computers, our society is tending to produce dumber brains. Some research is showing that we may now be dropping as much as 2.5-4.3 IQ points per decade. * Recent academic outcomes, addiction to social media and screens, and societal trends would tend to suggest that the decline is now accelerating. There are many reasons for this decline, all of which have an impact of the development of and use of our internal processors, our brains.

It was once correctly said that the brain is the only container in which the more you put into it, the more it can hold. It’s true! We build a better brain by permitting it to process more. The mechanism of neuroplasticity is that which not only permits growth and development, but it is also the brain mechanism that grows the brain the more we use it. The better our processing, the more input our brains receive, the greater our complexity of thought and function. The more and better we process, the smarter we get.

The human brain, human processor, typically develops its foundation in our first ten years of life; but development can and does continue beyond then. Neural connections and networks start developing from birth as the brain is stimulated through sensory input and use. The more targeted to the individual and organized the input, the greater the benefit. The primary components of our processor are generally referred to as short-term memory, working memory, long term memory, and executive function. These terms do not accurately depict how our processor works. Our brain function is our intelligence, which is much more than memory. It’s how we process, manipulate, associate, create, think, and behave. These dynamic systems of our brain effectively determine how we learn, think, function, behave, and ultimately who we are.

Neuroplasticity is active throughout our lifetime. We have the potential to keep growing, to keep getting smarter, given the opportunity. How our brains develop reflects the stimulation and opportunities we receive. Input develops our brain and literally grows connections and neural networks, physically growing the brain. A typical baby’s brain weighs about three-quarters of a pound, and an adult brain about 3 pounds. The degree of growth is a direct reflection of the input, the stimulation we receive and how well our processor works. Neurodevelopmental problems ranging from things like Down syndrome to autism, ADHD, ADD, dyslexia and learning disabilities are all issues that adversely affect the brain’s ability to process input. Perhaps nothing reflects the value of targeted treatment/input as the changes that are produced in all of those with obvious neurodevelopmental issues when provided with programs that organize their brains and build their processors. All of these neurodevelopmental issues can be affected and improved or eliminated if these individuals are provided with the targeted input needed to address and build their processing.

Educators and most parents are familiar with the term “curriculum.” Curriculum implies a planned course, a sequence of planned input that incorporates practice to produce proficiency. Our schools have reading, math, science, history, and other areas of curriculum, but where is the curriculum for the most important piece that actually makes us smarter? Educators have been stuck for decades with a convenient grey area defining the difference between intelligence and cognition, which are functionally the same thing and equate with “smart.” If you believe that intelligence (cognition) doesn’t, or can’t, change, the educational system absolves itself of the responsibility to develop it, which also assists in categorizing and limiting expectations. It is what it is and has resulted in accepting mediocrity in most and limitations in all of our children. Our more than four decades of experience at NACD in developing processing in many thousands of children and adults, from those with brain injuries, Down syndrome, autism, learning and attention issues to “typical” and gifted, etc., undeniably shows that not only can intelligence be improved, it can dramatically enhance and change lives. There is formal research showing the positive effects on IQ, cognition, with Head Start, preschool, and education in general. ***These changes are correctly attributed to improved quality and quantity of input, change that occurs although “education.” These changes are made even though “education” rarely if ever includes targeted activities to address the foundational components of cognition, our processing power—the ability to process more of what we see and hear, and the ability to mentally manipulate more pieces of information, the workings of our human processor, our brains.

That which develops changes, what changes can be developed.

At NACD we work with families and their whole children. A rather important part of the whole package is the brain. We have developed and utilized literally hundreds of targeted activities to build and change cognition, to build human processors. When we design individual educational and developmental programs, they include everything from diet to behavior, social skills, language, physical structure and function, to reading and math, etc. But inevitably high on the priority list, if not at the top, is processing: building and developing the human processor, the brain, and simply making people smarter.

Smarter is better. We all have the potential to be smarter and a responsibility to make our children smarter.

Trying to help a child achieve their potential without addressing their processor, or cognition, is like trying to win the Indy 500 without building an engine.

*https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-06-iq-scores-1970s.html#:~:text=In%20studying%20the%20data%2C%20the,was%20not%20all%20bad%20news.

** See video above

***https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-06-iq-scores-1970s.html#:~:text=In%20studying%20the%20data%2C%20the,was%20not%20all%20bad%

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 39 No. 3 , 2025 ©NACD

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by Bob Doman

Our perception of our children’s potential is limited by what we believe is possible. The opportunities we provide for them reflect that perceived potential, and the opportunities determine the outcomes.

Let me start by getting your attention. I want to introduce you to Ellen, a not-so-typical, “typical” child who just turned 6.  

This list of names Ellen was hearing for the first time and recalling represents her processing and short-term memory; and repeating the names backward represents her working memory, which is exceptional. Ellen’s cognitive function permits her to do amazingly well in everything she does, and she is just getting started.

Ellen’s parents understand neuroplasticity because of what they have seen with her big brother, Coco. Coco is a brilliant ten-year-old who exceeds the perceptions of what the professional world believes could be. However, NACD and Coco‘s parents believe that he has unlimited potential and are providing him with opportunities commensurate with those perceptions. 

Please watch Coco’s demonstration of his working memory. Neither Ellen nor Coco are using memory strategies or tricks; they are using the short-term and working memory that has been developed.

Coco is demonstrating his processing power and working memory. Working memory is now appropriately being called the new IQ. Coco was brain-injured at birth and would be identified as having Cerebral Palsy. However, to his family (who, with NACD’s guidance, is providing all his therapy and education themselves at home), he is their son, Coco. Coco needs no other labels; “Coco” suffices, and he is given the opportunities of a child with unlimited potential. Physically, Coco still has many challenges but has already surpassed traditional expectations and is not stopping.  

Coco’s and Ellen’s parents can see the potential in their children; because they can see it, they are doing everything they can to help them achieve it.

Step 1: Understand that through neuroplasticity, almost anything is possible.

Step 2: Do not be limited by labels & associated baggage.

Step 3: Provide the child opportunities to achieve their unique innate potential.

Note: Coco’s parents read our articles and watched our videos before Coco’s first NACD evaluation and TDI (Targeted Developmental Intervention) Program, which he received just before his second birthday. They understood neuroplasticity and knew that they were responsible for their son’s future and that they needed to be all that they could be. In preparation, they started using our online Simply Smarter program. Both parents developed superior processing and working memory—exceptional parents doing exceptional things. No limits. 

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 38 No. 5, 2024 ©NACD

The post If You Can’t See It, You Can’t Achieve It appeared first on NACD International | The National Association for Child Development.

by Bob Doman

The key to understanding and improving global function in children and adults with Down syndrome is determining and developing their cognitive function.

Whether we are looking at a two-year-old or an adult with Down syndrome, their level of function, their ability to learn, think, and communicate is a reflection of their cognitive level. 

Cognition is the mental function that permits us to process information, to acquire knowledge, to understand, think, and communicate. Cognition is not reading, math, or specific knowledge per se; it involves the neurodevelopmental pieces that comprise auditory and visual short-term memory, working memory, and eventually executive function. 

Cognition, or intelligence, is partially a reflection of what we were born with, but primarily it is something that develops. Anything that develops can be developed, impacted, improved. Unfortunately addressing cognition, how we process and manipulate what we see and hear, is missing almost universally from all education. For children with developmental issues, this leads to inappropriate, untargeted* input, low and unrealistic expectations, and poor outcomes.

Case in point

I recently received a report from a school outlining their curriculum for a twelve-year-old child with Down syndrome. Her curriculum includes the following:

• Science – forces and magnets
• Geography – comparing Australia, Greenland, and Africa, including significant historical events
• History – Stone age to Iron age
• Reading – creating and writing sentences about what they did over the weekend
• Math – shapes, positions, directions, statistics
• Computing – the pros and cons for social media advertising
• and a project to research, create, and launch a campaign to encourage others to be healthy.

Sounds wonderful—what a great opportunity for this child. This curriculum would be appropriate for perhaps a typical or gifted child, and even a few children with Down syndrome who have been given the opportunity to develop typical or better processing skills and who had a commensurate educational foundation. Unfortunately, the child in this classroom is functioning at the cognitive development level of a two-going-on-three-year-old. She is just putting two to three words together, learning to feed and dress herself, and developing the ability to process two to three step directions. She’s not twelve, she is two going on three. This is perhaps an extreme example, but it’s real! However, it would not be at all unusual for a twelve-year-old, but functional two to three, to be taught phonics and printing and other inappropriate things, based on their functional level. Would you think it appropriate to teach a typical two-year-old phonics and printing? How successful would you be, and how much of a waste of their time would it be? And what about all the things that would have been appropriate for them? The point is that when targeting the needs of children, it is their level of function, their cognitive level, their ability to process information and their complexity of thought that should determine what is appropriate and targeted.

Children develop when we provide them with what is targeted and appropriate for them. This targeted input is what develops their global function, helps build cognition, and leads to good outcomes. Where they are is more a reflection of their processing level than their chronological age. You don’t try to teach algebra to a child who can’t add.

Looking at a child with Down syndrome primarily through the lens of their chronological age does them a great disservice and results in inappropriate, ineffective education and therapies, and poor outcomes. Such historic failures have resulted in a poor perception of potential. The foundation of all development is neuroplasticity, and the first fundamental rule of neuroplasticity is to provide the child with input that is targeted to them.

We have been fortunate to have worked with many thousands of children and adults with Down syndrome, and in the case of many individuals, we have worked with them for decades. We have seen what is possible if we, along with the family, work with an understanding of the whole child and work diligently to build cognition. Without exception, those who develop processing abilities in the “normal” range can become the adults who have good jobs, drive, have good social relationships, and enjoy good lives. After these years and thousands of individuals with Down syndrome, we have never seen one reach these high global functional levels without having developed the commensurate level of cognition. 

Optimally we start working on processing and cognition virtually from birth; and the sooner we start the process, the more we begin funneling in the pieces that help produce global knowledge and functional intelligence. Years lost are gone. Can we start working on this function later? Absolutely. Addressing the foundational pieces of cognition, short-term memory, working memory, and executive function even starting with adults can produce dramatic change; but time lost is time lost in teaching that brain how to learn and think and filling that brain with the knowledge and experience that builds full lives.

Developmental and educational priority number one is developing the ability to learn and think—cognition/processing power. 

To learn more about processing power, watch our video below

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 37 No. 2 , 2024 ©NACD

The post Down Syndrome & Cognition appeared first on NACD International | The National Association for Child Development.

Quite a few of you know my story and journey with NACD, but for those of you who do not here it is in brief: We started our journey with NACD in December 2008. At the time my son Grant, who was five years old, was completely non-verbal, developmentally delayed, a flight risk, very stimmy, and had behaviors out of control. My husband and I were desperate for change and NACD gave us hope that one day our son might be able to first and foremost communicate with us and secondly live a happy and fulfilling life. I am very pleased to say that through our journey with NACD these hopes have become reality. He is fully conversational, a delightful young man, and living his best life. We continue to push forward and raise the bar on the expectations of him reaching his full potential.

In December of 2021 my dream job came to fruition, working for NACD as a coach, supporting families just like mine. As coach and now well into evaluator training, I have gained a different perspective through working with both evaluators and families. This has caused me to reflect on my personal journey with NACD and through reflection there are some things I wish I had understood more fully earlier on.

I wish I understood then just how important processing activities are as the critical foundation to global development. The background information I brought with me had me convinced I needed to prioritize other activities I felt were more important, like reading and math. These things are of absolute great value and importance, but the reality is the higher the processing is in a child, the easier these subjects will be to learn, and not only to learn, but to retain. Push to build the processing and the academics will fall into place much more easily.

I wish I realized that each activity on my child’s program is put on program with a specific intent and purpose. There are no “fluff” activities on program. Each activity is an important piece in building your child’s brain. Your evaluator has reason and intent behind each activity as to why it plays an important role. If you are unsure what an activity is accomplishing or why it is on your child’s program, ask us! The more you understand your program, the more successful you will be at implementation.

I wish I embraced the concept of pushing chores, responsibility, and self-help skills earlier on. I had my children learn chores, but I did not quite fully understand the bigger picture of what is accomplished through having a mindset of increasing the list of things my children can do. When it comes to chores it isn’t so much about what kids can do but more about what is happening through the act of doing chores. Chores build confidence and independence in kids. The more confident and independent kids are, the more intrinsic motivation they have to not only take on learning new things but are not intimidated doing hard things. Confident children have a “can do” mindset and this mindset overflows into academics as well. When this happens, they aren’t intimidated by working a tough math problem or learning something new, but instead they readily take on the challenge and with joy! There is another big piece of development that occurs through building the list of things a child can do, and this is maturity. Maturity comes with doing things for oneself and through doing things for others. We are raising highly capable adults. Highly capable adults are confident, independent, and mature. Keep raising the bar on the things your child can do!

Lastly, what I would tell my younger self when first starting our journey with NACD: Know your child’s program thoroughly. Watch the video tutorials and read the handouts from time to time, not just when you get a new program. You will learn something new every time you do. Ask questions if you are unsure about any activities or if something just doesn’t make sense to you. Take time to educate yourself by reading Bob’s articles in the newsletters and watching his YouTube videos. There is so much to be learned and the more you know, the better you will be at implementing program. Your time and efforts working with your child will be more efficient and your greatest work will be right before you, your amazing and unique child well on his way to reaching his full potential!

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The war in the Ukraine keeps going on, China is making more noise about Taiwan, the kids aren’t cooperating, and how much did you pay for gas today? Looking back over the decades, it would appear that we need to accept the fact that the world is going to keep throwing challenges our way, and we need to do what we can to deal with the realities and advance in spite of them. Don’t wait for things to get better, do what you can to make your life and that of your family better—now.

As most of you know, there are some things I keep coming back to; and generally at the top of the list are family and being smart. One of the things that good times have in common with the difficult times is that the stronger our family, the better we can get through the tough times and the more we can enjoy the good times. Keep family as the priority, invest in it. The second thing on my list has a direct impact on the first—being smart. Most of us have no idea how smart we can be, or how much easier most things are the smarter we are.

Virtually every NACD family knows about processing, which equals short term memory, working memory and executive function, essentially the pieces that permit us to learn, think, and function well. They are the pieces that determine how smart we are now.

The smarter we make our kids, the better they function; and the smarter we are as adults, the better we function at every time and stage of our lives. Not a great mystery!

As you proceed to work with your kids, reserve the big rewards for advancement in processing and do your best to make it FUN! It’s the atmosphere and attitude that can make things fun for children. You can make most anything fun if it’s your goal. Mom and Dad can make sure that the kids do their processing activities, but where is your mommy to make you work on yours? She probably isn’t going to be there, so you need to step up and assume the responsibility for it and accept the challenge. 

I recently have started using a personal trainer—heck, I’m only 74, there is still time to improve. I’ve made that commitment to myself to preserve and improve the quality of my life. It’s easy as adults to see ourselves as being “fait accompli” a done deal, if you will, but that does not need to be our reality. Please, Mom and Dad, make a commitment to keep working to make yourselves better, to continue to grow, not just for your own sake, but that of your family. The better you function, the better job you can do with your children. Tools can help, and if you haven’t explored Simply Smarter then do—get smarter! It helps! Be one of those who can succeed even in the face of adversity. 

You may not be able to help the world, but you can help yours.

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 35 No.4, 2022 ©NACD

The post Keeping Our Heads on Straight & Moving Forward appeared first on NACD International | The National Association for Child Development.

Processing and Its Relationship to Cognition, Maturity, and Global Function

What every parent needs to understand about processing:
It’s not about chronological age, it’s processing power.

by Bob Doman

Whether your child is “typical,” has learning or attention issues or special needs, you need to understand your child’s processing level and its global significance.

Knowing and understanding your child’s processing provides you with some important insights into how they take in information and learn and think much better than does their chronological age. This information provides you with vital information that can help you be proactive and help them achieve their innate potential.

The term processing power is generally reserved for and applied to computers and their ability to manipulate data and the speed with which they can do so. People understand that the more processing power their computer has, the better. What most people do not understand is the significance of human processing and its relevance to child development and global human function.

At NACD we have been working with the development of human processing power and have developed software and hundreds of activities to assist in this development for more than 40 years, working with tens of thousands of children and adults.

We view human processing as the ability to take in and to manipulate visual and auditory information, to learn and manipulate information, and to think. These functions are also the neurological pieces that underlie our maturity and behavior and which in turn provide us with the means to develop the mental ability to do such things as plan, prioritize, develop self-control, organize, and more–cognitive function.

The more associated pieces of information we can process, the more we take in of what there is to see and hear, the more we learn, and the higher our level of cognition. What different individuals process varies significantly, as does their perception of the world and their ability to think and function. None of us see, hear, or process the world the same way or think alike; but the stronger our processing power, the better equipped we are to learn and think, understand our world, and function in it.

Processing power develops in children. It changes, and what changes can be developed at any point in our lives.

Neuroplasticity is the mechanism by which the brain develops and changes. Everything we put into our brains and everything we think, feel, and use our brains for to some degree physically changes our brains and its function for better or worse. Our processing power impacts the quality and quantity of data we take in and our ability to manipulate and think.

The more we learn and know, the more meaning and significance what we perceive has, which in turn affects the relevance to our brains, and thus in turn affects what we take in and process. The world that is perceived is the world as seen and heard through our ability to process it and its relative significance. And the more of those pieces we can manipulate together, the greater our complexity of thought and ability to think.

Psychologists use the terms short-term memory, working memory, and executive function, rather than processing power, but processing power really says it better. The term “memory” doesn’t really describe, and to some degree distorts and minimizes, the neurological mechanism and significance of our processing power.

When we first start working with a child, and at NACD that means the whole child, we begin with basic functions, which include simply their ability to see, hear, feel, taste, and smell. These are things that are often taken for granted. In some cases, there are specific factors affecting these functions, ranging from actual injuries to the brain, to genetics, to more common problems such as middle ear fluid, degrees of hearing loss, to a wide variety of issues affecting vision, etc. But the reality is that all of these sensory functions need to develop or be developed in every child because they affect the child’s ability to process input, process the world. The brain needs to learn how to process and interpret this sensory information. If the child cannot perceive this sensory information, they need to be provided with the means with which to develop these functions or, to use another computer term, garbage in-garbage out. You first must see, hear, feel, taste, and smell properly. Most children on the autism spectrum, and to varying degrees children with other developmental problems, have issues that negatively impact the brain’s ability to learn how to process even basic sensory information appropriately. These sensory issues need to be addressed in order to develop processing power and further overall development.

Measuring Processing Power

Processing power can be gauged by looking at auditory and visual sequential processing.

For most children and adults functioning above the level of the average five-year-old, sequential processing can be tested by measuring what is referred to as a digit span. To test someone’s auditory digit span (the measure of how much the individual takes in from what they hear), you would simply say a sequence of numbers slowly (1 second intervals) in a monotone voice and have them repeat the sequence. Do not repeat the sequence if they miss it; give a different sequence of numbers. Start with 3 random numbers (using numbers from 0-9, do not repeat a number until you have surpassed a sequence of ten numbers), and give longer sequences until they can no longer repeat the sequence. The highest sequence they can get correct is their auditory digit span.

Following the same method, you can also test their reverse auditory digit span, presenting the numbers in the same way, but asking the participant to repeat the numbers backwards. The highest number of digits they can repeat backwards is their reverse auditory digit span.

Likewise, you can also test the visual digit span. Following a similar procedure, clearly write a series of large font numbers starting with a sequence of three numbers on a card or whiteboard; then show the participant the sequence and have them immediately read it aloud, without letting them review it. Immediately remove the card and have them repeat the sequence. As with the auditory test, continue until they can no longer repeat the sequence. Repeat this process again, but after having read the sequence from left to right, ask them to repeat the sequence backwards to ascertain their reverse visual digit span.

Some children younger than five who are familiar with numbers and can identify them easily can be tested with digit spans. Children can be tested prior to this by asking them to repeat a series of names of familiar objects, such as “spoon, table, ball” for auditory sequencing, or visually showing them a sequence of pictures and having them name them as you point to them and then removing them and having the child name the objects in order. Some children will be able to understand (“process”) a reverse sequence when they can do a forward sequence of 4; but many will not be able to until they can do a sequence of 5 digits forward.

Younger children can be crudely tested by having them follow a sequence of directions such as “Touch nose, ear,” or asking them to find this and that.

Forward digit spans are generally referred to as a representation of short-term memory, and reverse digit spans as a representation of working memory. But for now simply see these numbers as a representation of processing power.

At NACD we have tested the processing power of tens of thousands of individuals, and in some cases tested and followed some individuals for decades. Digit spans themselves are used as a testable number, but the primary processing power gauge is the individual’s actual function– their ability to understand and use language, their problem solving, behavior, and maturity. For younger children there are some very direct correlations between functions such as language and behavior and sequential processing.

When most children are in the processing range of 1-2 (with typical children this generally correlates with being 8 months to 24 months of age), they are relatively easy to please, generally happy unless they have a basic need such as being hungry, needing to sleep, or needing a diaper change. At this level of processing power the first random words begin popping out. As the child moves to stronger 2s, the behavior tends to begin to get more difficult and we often get tantrums–terrible two behaviors–but the child also starts using meaningful words and 2-word combinations. As we work into sequential processing power of 3, we start seeing what we refer to as “lock and block” behavior, which means that if the child perceives a request as something fun, typical, and nonthreatening, they will comply; but asking them to do something that is atypical or that they sense as strange or threatening in some way will often result in them just staring at you and refusing to comply. Behavior is to a significant degree a reflection of the child’s complexity of thought–processing power. At this stage the language moves into phrases of three to four words, and as the child moves toward processing a 4 they start using sentences and can be bargained /reasoned with. All these changes are reflections of the child’s ability to process (understand) and to think with greater and greater complexity. As processing power increases from here, so does the ability to process more and more of what is said and what is seen, and to think with greater and greater complexity. Other factors begin to figure into the equation, such as the individual’s ability to think conceptually (in words) and to visualize (think in pictures).

Processing power is what ultimately permits the individual to develop higher level mental function and associated maturity. The term “executive function” is used to describe these higher levels of function, which include things such as the ability to adapt, plan, self-regulate and control, time management, and organization. These functions only exist to the degree that our processing power permits.

To understand any child and many adults it’s not about chronological age, it’s Processing Power.

Whether we are trying to understand a special needs child, a “typical” child, or even an adult for that matter, one of our best insights as to how they function and thus what we should expect from them and what to do to help them improve is understanding their processing power. The degree to which we can identify their level of function, the greater our ability to target their needs.

The sad reality is that most educators have no idea as to a child’s processing ability and thus have limited ways at best to appropriately target their needs. For example, a special education teacher and an occupational therapist may be trying to get a six-year-old child with Down syndrome to write or cut with scissors with very minimal or no success because the six-year-old child has the processing power of a typical 2-year-old. Would you work hard to get a two-year-old to write or use scissors? Not if you had any sense. There are a lot of much more appropriate things to be teaching a child at this level, not the least of which is how to process more.

If you had a typically functioning four or five-year-old, would you be surprised if compared to a much older child they had a short attention span, were a bit distractible, and were still immature? No! Now if you had an eight, nine, or ten-year-old child, or even older, who had a short attention span and was distractible and immature, would you just jump to the conclusion that they had ADHD? Sadly, this is the label that is given to most of these children, even though they still have the processing power of a four or five-year-old and their attention span, distractibility, and maturity are in fact appropriate for where their processing is. Solution: raise their processing power! If you had a four-year-old whom you wanted to sit and attend in a third or fourth grade classroom, how would you do that? You would probably have to drug them. Would you do that, or would you wait until they were older and had developed the processing power needed?

What about the sixteen-year-old who is struggling in school, can’t get himself out of bed in the morning, is irresponsible, socially inept, and who wants to get a driver’s license? If you were to test his processing and were to discover that he had all these issues because he had the processing power of a five-year-old, would you want him to have a driver’s license? Do him and the world a favor and don’t put him behind the wheel of a car until you’ve raised his processing power to the point that he could develop some real executive function and make good decisions.

Typically, processing develops rapidly from infancy to about nine years of age, (see https://www.nacd.org/short-term-and-working-memory-clinical-insights) and then very slowly develops a bit from nine years until into the twenties. After the twenties, without intervention of some form, or exceptional use and demands, it starts a slow decline. Sadly, the processing level of most seven-year-olds is close to most young adults.

If you look at the change in global development between an infant and an average seven-year-old, it is quite spectacular. That tremendous change is not due to the child getting older; it’s due to the opportunities they have received and the resulting increase in their processing power. If you see children with high global function, you are generally looking at a child with superior processing. There does not appear to be any limit as to how far processing can develop given the targeted input to do it.

What develops changes, what changes can be developed.

Until the educators and psychologists and particularly the academics understand that the foundational pieces that permit us all to function can be developed, very few will ever come close to achieving their innate potential.

It’s a tragedy that our potential as individuals and as a world population remain untapped and that children and adults are labeled and denied the opportunity to achieve their innate potential. “Typical” or “average” is not a reflection of the potential anyone was born with, it’s a reflection of limited opportunity. We can all do better and function at higher levels if given the opportunity.

Developing processing power is something that should be an integral part of every child’s day.

Parents need to educate themselves, become active participants, and become the force that helps their children become all that they can be.

Related Apps/Software

NACD has developed many activities to develop processing power. Programs that are accessible to the general public include:

Simply Smarter

Cognition Coach – Toddlers

Cognition Coach – Preschool

Related Graphs

The Simply Smarter Project

Construct of Thought and Memory

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 35 No.1, 2022 ©NACD

Related Articles

https://www.nacd.org/the-effect-of-the-simply-smarter-program-on-short-term-memory-working-memory-and-academic-competency-for-elementary-students/

https://www.nacd.org/nacd-makes-adults-smarter-too/

https://www.nacd.org/vol-2-working-memory-training-physically-changes-brain-better-fmri-neuroimaging-study-finds/

https://www.nacd.org/nacdwasatch-peak-academy-school-model-program/

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The Simply Smarter® program is built upon the foundation of neuroplasticity, utilizing the science of targeted input, frequency, intensity, and duration.

Targeted

The program constantly modifies itself to keep you right at the sweet spot, the spot that is targeted for you to achieve maximum benefit.

Frequency

To take advantage of neuroplasticity, we need to keep triggering the firing of neurons and reinforcing neural networks. Everyone is encouraged to use the program once or twice a day and preferably four or more days a week.

Intensity

This is an incredibly important piece. The importance of intensity cannot be overstated. How you or your child approach every session is going to determine how much the program impacts, changes, and develops the brain. Just doing it isn’t enough; you must do it with real intensity and with intention. Every activity is very short. It was designed that way so that you could create and maintain maximum attention and intensity for the seconds needed to complete each piece that you are asked to process, to watch, or listen to. Approach every sequence of every activity with the intention of remembering it, of nailing it!

If your children are using the program, sit with them, if you can, and cheer them on. The program has built-in rewards and acknowledgement, but a parent’s power is much greater, and we encourage you to provide very meaningful, big rewards for new high scores or higher digit spans. These changes can be life changing, treat them as such.

We realize that it’s not reasonable for many parents to sit in while their child does Simply Smarter®, so we have built in the means to send email and text alerts so that Mom, Dad, grandparents, coaches, whoever will know when the child did well; and each can provide their own congratulations, making every step forward all that more meaningful. Dad coming home from work and immediately acknowledging Johnny’s new high score or a call from Grandma can be very powerful.

For adults be honest with yourselves. Sitting down with good energy, intensity, and with the intention of knocking it out of the park each time is difficult. You are not only allowed but encouraged to set up your own rewards program—rewards for all new high scores. Set digit span and processing power goals, and when you hit it, reward it. It’s only your life and future that you are changing!

Duration

To change the brain, we need to keep causing those networks of brain cells to keep firing together. The longer we do it, the greater the change. Keep in mind that generally without specific intervention the development of processing, short-term memory and working memory, slows virtually to a halt at about seven years of age, creeps a tiny bit forward from then until we are in our twenties, and then usually begins a slow decline that continues throughout our life unless we target it, address it, and build it!

Simply Smarter® is an invaluable tool that has the potential to change the lives of your children, your parents, and yourselves.

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 33 No. 7, 2020 ©NACD

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These COVID-19 Coronavirus times have certainly turned many of our worlds upside down. We now virtually have a world full of homeschoolers; more parents are at home with their children than at any time in the history of the world. Exceptional times and exceptional circumstances can also result in exceptional opportunities. Many of us are rediscovering and redefining basic things like family, work, school, and our relationship to institutions and society. I would like to talk with you about redefining potential and intellect and how while you are all at home, you have the potential to change the lives of every member of the family.

I would like to share a personal story. I grew up in a family of pioneers in human development. My father, a physician, and my uncle, a physical therapist in the ‘50s, worked with brain injured children and discovered that with the proper stimulation, healthy parts of the brain could learn to carry out the functions of damaged areas of the brain. This was ground breaking work that was originally seen as heretical, but is now after decades universally accepted. Changing perceptions is not an easy task, as I can certainly attest to after fifty years of trying to do it.

When I started studying psychology in the sixties, I had a tremendous advantage over others studying and working in the field. I came to understand that all development was possible through this amazing mechanism called neuroplasticity. If you understood neuroplasticity, development was no longer such a great mystery. The brain changed and developed as a reflection of specific stimulation, not because it just got older. Armed with this understanding, I looked at the brain as dynamic, changing, and most significantly, as changeable.

One area of early interest for me was learning and memory. At that time it was just beginning to be understood that there were various components of memory. Memory was being broken down into short-term memory, working memory, and long-term memory. The focus was on testing it and looking for correlations between these pieces and how people learned and functioned. At that time and for decades, the worlds of psychology and education did not have a perception that you could actually help develop or change memory; and even today, they are not really working to do that. My perception, based on an understanding of neuroplasticity, was that these components of memory didn’t just pop up as adult abilities, but they developed; and what developed changed; and what changed was changeable. I set out to understand all of these pieces and to find ways to change, develop, and accelerate that development.

Decades later I am proud to say that we have developed a great understanding of all of these foundational pieces that we now lump together and refer to as “processing.” Armed with this knowledge and the tools we have developed, we have helped change many thousands of lives. Improving these pieces of auditory and visual short-term memory and working memory is quite simply making people smarter. From our first software that ran on a Commodore Pet computer with a cassette drive in the early eighties, to the Brain Builder software in the nineties, to the present online Simply Smarter program and many dozens of one-to-one activities, we are working to change lives. From brain damaged individuals to those on the autism spectrum, to those with learning and attention issues, to typical children and adults, we can build all of these foundational pieces of memory that literally have the potential to make everyone smarter.

At NACD we work with “whole children,” designing home based comprehensive programs that address everything from a child’s sleep and behavior to how they walk and do algebra, including innovative comprehensive homeschool/home-based educational programs. But there is something that in one way or another is on every child’s program, and that is processing activities.

We are fortunate that we can work via Skype with any family in the world who has Internet access and give them the tools designed to develop and improve their brains. Today everyone doesn’t need to come to NACD to work on their processing. You can take advantage of this expertise and go online and in about fifteen minutes a day put together the pieces that can help you and your children work to become smarter. The tool that is available to you is our Simply Smarter program, a tool that your children can use all by themselves!

Let me help you understand what this all really is and what it can mean for you and your family.

What is “smart?” Can you define it? Do you think you would like your kids to be smarter? How about you?

You can define “smart,” possibly, but even more so, you probably know it when you see it. Smart has to do with being present, being aware, being able to take in and process a lot of information, being able to manipulate that information, think with complexity, put ideas together, focus, and communicate.

Smart doesn’t necessarily mean knowing that the capitol Nevada is Carson City, or that Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded, or that the First World War ended on November 11, 1918, or what your bile duct does, or that “or” is a conjunction. But smart does mean that you are more likely to find such things interesting and you can learn them more easily than most. Knowing “stuff” doesn’t make you smart. (You are going to actually forget most “stuff” unless you are smart enough to make associations and connections between “stuff” and use it.) And smarter also means that it’s easier to understand and learn everything.

What is the foundation of “smart?”

The foundation of smart is the ability to process and take in a lot of information that you see and hear and to manipulate that information and think.

The more you can process and take in what there is to be heard, the stronger your auditory short-term memory. Your auditory short-term memory provides the fuel for the development of your auditory working memory, which is how many pieces or words you can hold together and manipulate, which equals your complexity of thought, or “smart.” How many pieces of visual information you process from what you see, whether from observation of your world or from reading, relates to your visual short-term memory; and as with auditory processing, your visual short-term memory provides the pieces you use to create your visual working memory and visual-spatial abilities. These fundamental, foundational pieces ultimately determine how much information you take in and use, which translates to how much knowledge you gain and your complexity of thought. All this equals “smart.”

How does processing “smart” develop?

Processing develops primarily from birth to about seven years. The rate and degree it develops is a reflection of the targeted stimulation and opportunities that you receive. In general the more quality one-to-one interaction between a child and an involved adult, the faster and the further it develops. The more enriching the environment, the faster and the further it develops. With specific targeted input designed to build processing skills, processing not only can be accelerated, it can be developed to superior levels.

When does the development of processing abilities stop?

Without specific intervention, the development of processing abilities almost comes to a halt at about seven years of age. From seven into our twenties, it typically develops perhaps another ten to fifteen percent; and after our twenties, without specific intervention it goes into a slow decline. You can continue to learn more, but your ability to do so declines, as does your ability to manipulate the information. As you continue to learn, you can become wiser, but not necessarily smarter, unless you are stretching your processing through complex cognitive activities or actively working to preserve or develop it.

How can you build processing ability and get smarter?

Everyone, from infant to geriatric, with input that is targeted to them, can incrementally build and improve processing ability and get smarter. We at NACD have been developing methodologies and improving processing abilities for the full spectrum of children and adults for over forty years. NACD designs specific processing programs for families who are members of NACD and who wish to utilize comprehensive developmental and educational programs designed so that they can be implemented in the home by parents and caregivers. But as mentioned earlier, NACD also has developed a very comprehensive targeted program for all children five years old and older and for adults up to and including seniors—Simply Smarter.

What is Simply Smarter?

The Simply Smarter program is a dynamic online system that constantly develops and modifies itself, adapting to the individual user to help produce maximum change. Specific activities work progressively to address focus, attention, intensity, auditory and visual short-term and working memory, visualization, conceptualization, and visual-spatial abilities, all of the pieces that help make everyone learn, think, and function better. The program first assesses your baseline and then builds from there, tracking and graphing progress. It has the capability of adjusting from basic levels of a child to levels of incredible function.

What can you do with children under five?

Children at or functioning under five years of age generally need specific one-on-one activities that are designed as part of NACD’s individualized programs. But in addition children from toddlers to five years old can use NACD’s Cognition Coach apps to build processing skills.

How long does it take to get smarter?

With motivation and consistent use, measurable changes can occur in a couple of weeks; and with continued use of Simply Smarter, virtually unlimited improvements are possible. Over the course of the present lockdown, you have the potential to produce a significant change.

Who has used Simply Smarter and what have the results been?

The range of those who have used NACD’s processing activities and Simply Smarter is as broad as the population. NACD’s Simply Smarter and other processing programs have been used by thousands of typical and gifted children and adults, those with learning and attention issues, as well as those with significant developmental issues such as autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, and brain injuries. Most everyone working on our comprehensive home based programs not only knows about processing, but is actively working on processing every day and understands the correlation between their child’s processing and global function and abilities. We have seen exceptional changes along the path of many thousands of children’s development and are continually heartened as we see their potential being redefined. Processing is a huge key to success and potential.

Please take this opportunity to change your child’s life trajectory. My mission in life has been to help change the perception of potential and to help develop the tools to do it. Today with more parents and children at home than ever before, I see this as a unique chance to change many lives and potentially change the perception of what can be.

To read an incredible testimonial from a couple about Simply Smarter and see what incredible things even a child can do, please read the following article and watch the video.

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 33 No. 4, 2020 ©NACD

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You say nice things –I like you!

You’re fun to be around!

You think I’m good-you like me!

I’ll be good for you and try hard!

You just say ugly things to me!

You think I’m bad and dumb—then I’ll be bad and dumb!

Simple statements: The more positive you are with a child, the more they will like you, respect you, and work to please you, because they will feel better about themselves when they are with you. What we and others say to them forms their self image. We tell them who they are.

Good quality positive feedback develops positive attitudes, good self-image, and it motivates. Providing quality feedback is not necessarily easy nor does it come naturally to many of us. Please see my article Feedback Part 1 to get a better picture of what good quality feedback needs to be.

The more problems and issues a child has, the fewer obvious opportunities there may be to give them positive feedback; but the more problems and issues they have, the more they need positive feedback.

Most children who are high functioning and doing well receive lots of positive feedback. Every good grade on a test provides positive feedback; if they made a basket or scored a goal, they receive positive feedback; if they look nice, they receive positive feedback; if they have friends, they receive positive feedback. High functioning children tend to do well socially and have friends and positive social relationships—all things that provide positive feedback and, in turn, motivate and encourage the child to try more and do more. If you do a lot of things well, you receive a lot of positive feedback, generally feel pretty good about yourself, and on the occasion when you receive criticism, you accept it, learn from it, and are better for it.

Children who do not do well academically or in sports or socially tend to receive very little positive feedback. Their life is often filled with poor grades and failures in many, if not most, of the things they do. On the occasion when they receive positive feedback, they don’t believe it; and when they receive negative feedback/attention, it’s an affirmation that they are “dumb” or “bad” or whatever.

The children who receive the least positive feedback are the ones who need it the most.

Who children think they are is primarily a reflection of the feedback they receive. The feedback they receive determines how they define themselves.

Giving children real, true, and positive feedback is imperative.

One very important way to help every child is to create a positive environment for them. A positive environment helps motivate them, helps them develop a positive self-image, and it provides you the parent, caregiver, coach, or teacher with power to influence them in a positive way.

I define a positive environment as one that has a ratio of four positives to every one negative. The ratio of 4:1 is strong enough on the positive side to provide all the benefits of a positive environment, but also provides the opportunity for constructive criticism or feedback to extinguish unwanted behaviors and make corrections.

Think of a common scenario involving a child with a developmental, learning, or behavior problem or combination of all three. Typically such a child may live in a world where they receive only one positive to every four negatives. The sad reality is that for many such children that ratio is 1:10 or more, much more. Imagine their life–they are doing math and they hear, “That one is wrong. So is this one and that one and…”

When they are reading, for every word missed they hear, “Wrong!” and every word read correctly gets ignored. They play appropriately by themselves and get ignored. Then they poke their sister, who squeals, and they get a quick sharp, intense response from Mom. This is their day. Do something right—minimal or no feedback; do something wrong, and you are “bad” and “dumb” at math, reading, and even playing, or simply just “bad” and ”dumb.”

When balanced, negative comments and reactions generally have a significantly stronger impact on us than do most positives. Also, most negative responses are delivered with greater intensity than positives, thus the need for the ratio of 4:1 positives to negatives to create a good positive environment.

Parents, caregivers, and teachers need to learn how to find the opportunities for positive feedback. Mark and comment on everything that is right; don’t emphasize what is wrong, comment and emphasize what is right. Take note of those things that are wrong and come back and teach them. For children with behavior issues, catch them being good and let them know it. Perceive the struggling child as a child with the potential to do well, and work to help them develop that new perception.

We change the brain through the neuroplasticity fundamentals of frequency, intensity, and duration. It’s important to understand that neuroplasticity is how the brain changes and develops. Consistent positive input/feedback helps produce positive outcomes–motivation, good intentions, good self-image, and happy children. Consistent negative input/feedback creates negative self-image, poor attitudes, and unhappy children and helps produce negative outcomes. Negatives impact the brain, and if delivered with sufficient frequency, intensity, and duration, we do change the brain, building negative perceptions and making the brain more receptive to interpreting even positive comments as negatives.

Creating a positive world for your child goes a long way toward gaining their attention and cooperation and toward developing the strengths and abilities that you want to foster.

Your goal: four positives to every negative.

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 33 No. 3, 2020 ©NACD

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