The Cognitive Load Theory

As a dyslexia therapist, I often hear parents expressing their concern when their child appears to know something one moment but seems to have forgotten it the next. They wonder if there might be something 'wrong' with their child's brain, finding it perplexing. However, there is a logical explanation for this phenomenon, and it doesn't indicate any inherent issues or forgetfulness.

The key reason behind this inconsistency is that the child has not yet reached a stage of automaticity in acquiring a particular skill. Consequently, when the demands of a task increase, such as in a writing piece, the skill tends to slip away temporarily.

This concept is rooted in the cognitive load theory, which is essential to understand when monitoring the literacy skills of dyslexic children. For these children, learning requires more than just one or two exposures to a skill. They benefit from ample review and repetition to solidify their understanding and head towards automaticity.

For instance, when teaching a spelling skill to a dyslexic child, it is crucial to provide explicit instruction and ample practice with isolated words. Although it may appear that the child has mastered the skill when they are working at a single word level, it cannot be automatically transferred to a writing task.

To illustrate this, imagine the complexities of planning a big family gathering, involving tasks like organising food, decorations, and coordinating guests. The tasks in isolation may be easy to execute, however put them all together and without automaticity of the individual tasks, the cognitive load may cause overwhelm causing the quality of some of the tasks to slip.

Similarly, when children write, they experience a significant cognitive load—simultaneously considering spelling, grammar, and various other aspects. Just as planning becomes easier with practice, repetitive spelling practice leading to automaticity allows children to lighten their mental load when writing.

When the basics are automatic, the more complex tasks have the 'cognitive space' to be carefully and accurately delivered. 

Understanding the cognitive load theory helps us comprehend why our children may appear to forget a skill when engaged in more complex tasks like writing. By providing continued practice and promoting automaticity in spelling, we can reduce the cognitive load and enable the child to approach various aspects of writing with greater ease.