Understand your ADHD brain: Processing Modalities
Processing modalities refers to the way individuals receive and process information from their environment.
These modalities will differ depending on the information you are learning and how your brain processes that TYPE of information. A neurodivergent brain may need to use more processing modalities than a neurotypical to achieve the same learning success. There is never one way to learn for each type of information or person. Understanding these 8 modalities will help you discover which combinations may work for you or your child in any given learning situation.
Auditory: you need to hear instructions verbally and listen to what is being said to understand and retain information. Audio books, a lecture, podcasts, teacher speaking at the front of the room.
Conceptual: you need to understand the big picture and get a macro understanding of a topic before you understand the details. You may get easily frustrated if the concept isn’t obvious and may need to seek more information to understand a smaller part of the concept.
Kinesthetic: you need to move around to focus adequately to receive information. This process would be combined with another like auditory or visual. You may need to take frequent breaks, move around, stand, fidget or wiggle to stay engaged.
Visual: you need to see information to concentrate or comprehend. You may benefit from visual aids, diagrams, and images to help you understand concepts. Visual metaphors may also help especially if you are also a conceptual learner.
Verbal: you need to talk through thoughts in order to grasp concepts and information. You may benefit from discussing information with others or talking through problems out loud.
Tactile: you need to touch or feel something while learning. You may benefit from hands-on activities or be holding an object to understand concepts.
Emotional: you need a strong positive emotion to focus and learn. You may benefit from activities that evoke positive emotions, such as humour or praise or music that puts you in a good or inspired mood.
Intuitive: you receive or sense information in flashes. You may find you work spontaneously and feel compelled by inspiration. You may rely on intuition and gut feelings to understand information and make decisions.
Whenever you or your child is feeling stuck in a learning situation, it may be helpful to play detective and explore different ways of processing. You may find that a combination of modalities will help for certain topics. If sitting at a desk reading isn’t optimal for the type of information you are trying to retain, experiment with different modalities. Perhaps you need to hear and see the information, in which case learning through videos may help. In other situations listening to music and standing may be the answer.
Coaching can help an individual uncover these processing modalities to understand why a given learning situation feels challenging. Once you know, you can alter and optimize the environment so learning and staying on task feels not only achievable, but inspiring and motivating.