Effective Memory Strategies for Special Needs

How to Improve Memory, Recall Skills in Students With Disabilities

Nov 2, 2009

Students with special needs often have memory problems. Teachers can use effective memory strategies to improve recall for children with disabilities in the classroom.

Memory issues can cause academic struggles in students with disabilities. Children with special needs may have difficulty with short-term memory, and this will affect problem solving ability and organization. Students with long-term memory retention problems will have difficulty memorizing facts or recalling information later. Still others will have problems with both. Teachers can improve memory in these students by employing useful memory strategies.

Short-Term Versus Long-Term Memory

Long-term memory (LTM) is defined as the ability to organize and process information in a permanent way so that is easy to retrieve hours, days, or even years later. Students will use their long-term memories to store new words and their definitions, which will help improve comprehension. They will also store basic math facts (like multiplication or addition to ten, for example) and recall those facts later to help them solve larger, more complex problems.

Short-term memory (STM or working memory) is defined as the ability to remember small pieces of information for a short time (seconds to one-minute) in order to solve an immediate problem. Children use their short-term memories to follow multiple-step directions, perform sequenced tasks, and to understand the details and nuances of social/professional interaction.

Effective Memory Strategies for Special Needs Students

Teachers can try the following effective memory strategies to help special needs students remember lessons and improve retention in the classroom:

Mnemonics – Using clever words, rhymes, and songs (mnemonic devices) to help children remember lists of items or the order of steps in a problem will be extremely helpful for students with memory problems. Some examples of popular and effective mnemonic devices are:

Rote Practice Exercises – Teachers will need to review and practice new concepts over and over in the classroom. Practicing skills can be done in one large teaching session (rehearsal or drill) or in multiple small lessons over a period of days and weeks. Both these memory strategies in combination will help the child with special needs improve memory.

Hands-on learning – Once a skill or concept has been memorized, teachers can then help apply that knowledge to the real world by doing hands-on lessons. Children can take the knowledge that they learned about owls for example, and do a hands-on lab dissecting an owl pellet to find bone fragments of digested animals. For spelling or vocabulary, students can look for words in a story, or in pictures hanging in the classroom.

Learning in the classroom is only possible when a student can process and retain information, and then apply it to solve problems in everyday situations. When a disability impacts short-term or long-term memory in a child, learning becomes very difficult. By applying effective memory strategies in the classroom, teachers can improve memory, recall, and retention skills in children with disabilities, and achieve future academic goals.

Learn how to improve memory in students with disabilities by teaching memory techniques that encourage independence. See Memory Techniques for Kids with Disabilities for more information.

The copyright of the article Effective Memory Strategies for Special Needs in Special Needs Education is owned by Karen Plumley. Permission to republish Effective Memory Strategies for Special Needs in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.