Slow Processing Speed and Social Interactions

Slow processing speed can impact social relationships and friendships in many ways. Children with slow processing may:

• Take longer to grasp or understand social concepts.
• Struggle to find the right words—especially in emotionally charged conversations.
• Need more time to respond in conversations.
• Lose focus during social interactions, making it harder to stay engaged.

What You’ll Find in This Section:

• What does slow processing in social situations look like?
• Practical strategies to support your child’s social interactions, including:

1. Scaffolding and supporting social interactions
2. Helping with organisation and verbal communication
3. Supporting fast-paced and complex social situations

What Does Slow Processing Look Like in Social Situations?

Children with slow processing speed may:

• Take longer to pick up on social cues, missing the flow of quick conversations.
• Appear out of sync in interactions because they take longer to respond.
• Lose track of what’s happening in games or pretend play, which can frustrate peers.
• Struggle to retell stories or events in a clear, organised way.
• Have poor time management, often running late.
• React slowly to jokes or sarcasm, making them seem “a bit off.”
• Find group work challenging, as conversations and tasks move quickly.

Practical Strategies to Support Social Interactions

1. Scaffolding and Supporting Social Interactions

One of the best ways to support your child is by helping them gain extra time to process social situations while also building their self-awareness.

How to Help:

• Give them ways to buy time – Teach them to say things like:
  • “Give me a second to think about that.”
  • “Can you say that again?”
• Teach ways to ask for clarification – Phrases like:
  • “What did you mean when you said that?”
  • “I didn’t get everything—can you repeat that?”
• Limit group size – Fewer people mean less information to process at once.
• Help them keep up with conversation flow – Teach simple engagement cues like:
  • Nodding while listening.
  • Saying “That’s interesting,” “I understand,” or even “uh-huh.”
• Encourage eye contact and focus on the speaker – Body language provides extra cues.
• Use Teachable Moments – When your child struggles with social situations, discuss it afterward. If they say, “No one likes me,” or “I’m never included in games,” guide them in understanding what happened and how to approach it next time.

2. Helping Your Child Organise Their Thoughts & Communicate Clearly

Slow processing can make it difficult to retrieve words quickly or tell stories in a logical order. Some children may “talk around” a topic using vague words like “thingy” or “that stuff.”

How to Help:

• Focus on the big picture first, then add details.
• Use sequencing words (first, second, third) to help structure stories.
  Prompt them with questions:
  • “What happened first?” → “What happened next?” → “What happened last?”
• Ask them to explain a video game to someone who doesn’t know how to play.
• After a book or movie, have them retell the story in chronological order.
• Teach them to recognise what details are important vs. unnecessary.

3. Supporting Your Child in Fast-Paced & Complex Social Situations

New environments, large groups, and rapid conversations can overwhelm children with slow processing speed. This can happen in playgrounds, classrooms, or sports teams.

How to Help:

• Teach them to slow down and observe – Instead of trying to keep up, they can watch interactions first to understand the flow.
• Give permission to step away – Let them know it’s okay to move to a calmer space if a situation feels overwhelming.
• Prepare them in advance – Before events like parties or starting a new school, help them visualise the experience by:
  • Reviewing what will happen.
  • Showing pictures of people who will be there.
  • Practicing what they can say in different situations.