Five Powerful Ways to Improve Working Memory in Neurodiverse Learners
- Susan Ardila
- Jul 2
- 7 min read
Unlocking Potential in the Classroom-How to Improve Working Memory in Students with Learning Differences
If your child frequently forgets what they just read… If they get lost halfway through following directions… If multi-step math problems feel impossible unless someone is sitting next to them the whole time…
You're not seeing a lack of motivation. You're seeing a working memory challenge.
Working memory is one of the most essential (and most overlooked) parts of learning. It’s what allows kids to hold onto information just long enough to do something with it—like following directions, solving problems, remembering what the teacher just said, or staying on task.
When working memory is underdeveloped—as it often is in children with ADHD, dyslexia, or executive functioning difficulties—every task becomes a cognitive juggling act. Instructions fall out of their head before they even finish hearing them. Math steps disappear mid-problem. Writing assignments feel like running a marathon with a blindfold on.
And as a parent or teacher, it’s heartbreaking—because you know they’re smart. You know they’re capable. But the way their brain processes and holds information just doesn’t work the way traditional instruction assumes it will.
The good news? We can help.
Working memory is not fixed—it’s highly responsive to strategy, structure, and support. Over the years, I’ve helped hundreds of students strengthen these skills, often after they’ve spent years being misunderstood or underestimated.
In this blog, I’ll walk you through five of the most effective strategies for improving working memory in children with learning differences. These are not “tricks.” They are deeply supported by research, rooted in practice, and designed for real homes and real classrooms.
Because when we understand how working memory works, we stop fighting the child—and start supporting the brain.
What Is Working Memory?
Working memory is like a mental sticky note—it holds information temporarily so we can use it. We rely on it to follow multi-step directions, solve math problems, complete writing assignments, and more. It plays a critical role in:
Following directions
Solving multi-step math problems
Reading comprehension and summarization
Taking notes while listening
Organizing ideas for writing
When working memory is underdeveloped or overloaded, students may:
Start a task but not finish it
Forget what they were just told or read
Seem distracted or confused
Struggle with organization and time management
These are not signs of failure—they’re signs of cognitive overload. And with the right supports, that overload becomes manageable.
🔍 Quick Summary: Five Strategies That Strengthen Working Memory
✅ Break tasks into manageable chunks
✅ Use visuals to organize and anchor information
✅ Rely on spaced repetition and regular review
✅ Engage students actively through mnemonics and movement
✅ Incorporate multisensory learning across subjects
Now let’s dig into how each of these looks in real life.
1. Chunk Information Into Manageable Pieces
Let’s be honest: school throws a lot of information at kids—often all at once.
For a child with limited working memory capacity, a long list of instructions or a multi-step lesson can be overwhelming before it even begins. Their brain can’t hold all that information in place long enough to process it, let alone respond to it.
That’s where chunking comes in.
Chunking is the process of breaking big tasks or long instructions into smaller, more manageable pieces. It’s like handing a child one puzzle piece at a time instead of dumping the whole box in front of them.
💡 Example for Parents:
Let’s say your child has 10 spelling words to study. Instead of handing over the full list and saying “go memorize these,” break it into smaller sets. Start with three. Once those are solid, add the next three. Build slowly. Review frequently.
You’re not making it easier—you’re making it doable. And the result is a child who can experience success and build confidence, rather than feeling defeated before they begin.
🎓 Example for Educators:
If you’re introducing a complex math concept—like multi-step equations—teach it one layer at a time. First isolate the basic operation. Then add one more step. Then practice each step in isolation before combining them into a full equation.
This scaffolding doesn’t dilute the learning. It empowers students to build toward complexity in a way their working memory can actually manage.
📖 Want to dig deeper into how this applies in math class? Read Why the CRA Math Approach Isn’t Working for Your Child—and What Educators Keep Getting Wrong.
2. Use Visualization to Support Memory
Working memory often thrives on structure. But when we deliver all information verbally—or only through text—it can overwhelm a student’s mental workspace. Visuals reduce that load by providing structure, anchoring new ideas, and creating more concrete associations.
🖍️ Example for Parents:
When your child is learning something abstract—like a scientific process or a timeline in history—draw it out together. Use stick figures. Add color. Encourage them to sketch what they’re thinking. It doesn’t need to be artistic—it just needs to be memorable.
Let’s say they’re learning about the water cycle. Instead of reciting the steps, draw a cartoon cloud with a sad face raining into a puddle, then evaporating back into the sky. Now they have a story to hang the facts on.
🏫 Example for Educators:
Create anchor visuals students can reference while learning. Use flowcharts, diagrams, labeled illustrations, or color-coded steps to explain new concepts. For vocabulary, match each new word with a picture or symbol they can associate it with. Encourage students to build their own visual flashcards. This allows working memory to offload information into more stable, visual formats the brain can retrieve more easily.
3. Prioritize Repetition and Spaced Practice
For many students, the problem isn’t that they didn’t learn something—it’s that they didn’t get enough chances to retrieve it before it faded. That’s where repetition (and the timing of it) matters most.
Spaced practice means revisiting material over time instead of cramming it all in one sitting. It’s not just about how many times something is reviewed, but when.
🕓 Example for Parents:
Instead of trying to study for a test the night before, help your child spread it out. On Monday, review flashcards for 5 minutes. On Tuesday, ask questions while driving to practice. On Wednesday, have them teach the concept to you while setting the dinner table.
Even a few minutes a day, if repeated consistently, can create stronger long-term memory than a single cram session ever could.
🧠 Example for Educators:
Use daily warm-ups or exit tickets that include key ideas from previous lessons. Review doesn’t have to take up half your class. Even 3–5 minutes of strategic recall—like a “what do you remember from last week?” moment—can strengthen those neural connections. Build a spiral review system where concepts are never taught just once and forgotten.
4. Boost Retention Through Active Engagement
Our brains love pattern, rhythm, and play. When we turn information into something novel, silly, rhythmic, or story-based, it becomes sticky. Mnemonics don’t just help students remember facts—they give the brain a path back to the information when it starts to fade.
🎶 Example for Parents:
Struggling with multiplication facts? Turn them into a rap. Trying to remember steps for long division? Make up a jingle: "Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring it down—yeah, that’s the breakdown!” The more fun (and strange) it is, the better.
For memorizing lists or sequences, create acronyms. For example: "HOMES" to remember the Great Lakes—Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.
🧑🏫 Example for Educators:
Incorporate rhythm, rhyme, or movement into your lessons. Let students clap syllables while spelling. Have them act out vocabulary words. Turn formulas into chants. The goal isn’t just novelty—it’s engagement. When students create or act out content, they encode it more deeply and retrieve it more reliably.
5. Make It Multisensory
Multisensory learning is more than a buzzword. It’s a research-backed method for helping students make stronger memory connections by engaging visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic input at the same time.
🖐️ Example for Parents:
Let’s say your child is learning how to spell a tricky word. Say the word aloud. Clap the syllables. Write it with their finger in a tray of salt or sand. Have them draw a silly picture of the word’s meaning. These combined inputs give their brain multiple routes to access the information later.
✏️ Example for Educators:
Incorporate movement, texture, and sound into academic tasks. Let students solve math facts with manipulatives. Use real objects to teach vocabulary. Have them trace letters with their fingers while saying the sound aloud. When students are involved with their whole body, they retain more and rely less on limited working memory.
💡 Want to understand more about how this supports students with specific learning needs? Read What Is Dyscalculia? to see how multisensory strategies help students with math-based learning differences thrive.
Real-Life Impact of Imporve Working Memory
This is more than a strategy list. This is how kids go from tears to triumph.
When students receive the right supports:
They begin finishing tasks they used to abandon.
They start speaking up because they feel prepared.
They experience learning as something they can do.
And just as importantly, parents feel less overwhelmed. Teachers see growth. Everyone breathes easier.
I’ve watched students who were on the verge of giving up begin to soar. Not because they suddenly “got smarter,” but because we finally met their brain where it was.
Ready to Build a Better Learning Experience?
Your child is not broken. Their brain is not the problem. But the strategies they’re being given might be.
🌟 For more practical tools and strategies that support independent problem-solving in math, check out Cracking the Code: Tips for Mastering Algebraic Equations.
At MindBridge Math Mastery, I don’t just teach content—I teach students how to learn in ways that work for them.
If you're ready to give your child the support they need to thrive, book a free consultation today. Let's unlock their full potential—together.
About the Author
Susan Ardila is the founder of MindBridge Math Mastery and a specialist in multisensory math and cognitive learning strategies for neurodiverse students. With a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction and over a decade of experience working with students with learning differences, Susan’s mission is to make math—and learning itself—make sense again.
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