Understanding and Supporting Your Working Memory | Executive Function | Autism Study Skills

This structured PDF presentation (full lesson) is designed for individuals with ASD and executive functioning deficits. It explains what working memory is, why instructions, steps, and plans are forgotten mid-task, and teaches practical, evidence-based strategies that reduce how much needs to be remembered.

What is covered:

• What Is Working Memory: a clear, literal explanation of how it works
• Working Memory vs Long-Term Memory: why a person can have a strong long-term memory and still find working memory difficult
• Why Do We Forget Things Mid-Task: limited capacity, interruptions, tiredness, and spoken instructions
• Why This Can Be Harder for Individuals with ASD: detail focus, sensory input, fast spoken instructions, and interruptions
• The Universal Struggle: reassurance that forgetting information mid-task is common, including in ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia
• What Working Memory Struggles Can Look Like: recognising the signs
• Examples: the four-step instruction, and the interrupted recipe
• Strategies for Supporting Working Memory: the Write-It-Down Rule, the Written Request, the Visual Checklist, Chunking, the Place Marker, and the Repeat-Back Method
• Evidence-Based Techniques: Task Analysis, and Visual Supports and Dual Coding
• Practice Scenarios and Generalised Feedback: realistic scenarios with feedback
• Practical Tips and Key Takeaways

Suitable for:

• Teenagers and adults with autism
• 1:1 sessions or small group work
• SEN specialists, instructors, support workers, and parents

Format: PDF presentation
Session time: Approximately 1 hour

All content uses clear, literal, and neutral language throughout. Resources are universally applicable, with no political, ideological, or religious content.

SLEducation: Where rehearsal meets real life…

Tags:
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