Understanding Working Memory: Why It Matters for Children with Dyslexia

Introduction

If your child struggles to follow instructions, forgets what they’re doing halfway through a task, or finds it hard to hold onto spellings they’ve just practiced, working memory might be playing a key role. For children with dyslexia, working memory challenges are incredibly common but often misunderstood. In this blog, we’ll break down what working memory is, how it affects learning (especially for children with dyslexia) and what you can do to support it at home and in school. 

What Is Working Memory?

Working memory is like the brain’s sticky note. It allows us to hold onto information just long enough to use it. For example, remembering the beginning of a sentence while writing the end, or keeping a maths problem in mind while working it out. It’s part of our executive functioning system, which helps us plan, focus and manage tasks. 

For children with dyslexia, working memory difficulties can affect: 

• Reading: remembering sounds, blending them and tracking where they are in a word or sentence. 

• Spelling: holding onto the order of sounds or letters long enough to write them down. 

• Writing: juggling ideas, sentence structure and spelling at the same time. 

• Following instructions: especially multi-step ones, like “Get your reading book, sit down and write the date.” 

  
  

Signs of Working Memory Difficulties 

Children with poor working memory might: 

• Seem like they’re not paying attention, when actually they’re overloaded 

• Forget instructions partway through a task 

• Lose track of what they’re saying or writing 

• Struggle to copy from the board 

• Make frequent errors in reading or maths due to lost place or missed steps 

• Appear slow to process or need frequent repetition 

  
  

These challenges aren’t about effort or intelligence, they’re a reflection of how the brain processes and stores short-term information. 

How It Links to Dyslexia

Research shows that many children with dyslexia have weaker working memory. That means they may find it harder to: 

• Hold onto sequences of sounds (important for phonics) 

• Follow spoken instructions in the classroom 

• Recall word spellings after sounding them out 

This doesn’t mean they can’t learn, just that they might need different approaches and more repetition to secure information. 

Supporting Your Child with Dyslexia and Working Memory Challenge 

The most important thing is to reduce pressure and increase support. Children with working memory difficulties often feel frustrated, anxious or like they’re always getting things wrong. Small adaptations and lots of reassurance can help build confidence and motivation. 

At Flourish Dyslexia, we take a strengths-based approach focusing on what a child can do and helping them find tools that work for them. Understanding working memory is just one piece of the puzzle, but it’s a powerful one.