Do you know that kids are also at the risk of short term memory loss. This may affect them in the long run. How to recognize short term memory loss? What can you do to help your child with short term memory loss?
Memory loss is a sign of getting old. These days kids also suffer from memory loss often. This is one of the challenges of the parenthood. Though it is quite common in children it needs attention at the early stages.
This article discusses the short term memory loss in children. It presents the causes and the ways to deal a child with short term memory loss.
What is Short term memory loss in children?
Under this condition children will be able to recover the things that had happened long ago but unable to recover the ones that had happened some time ago. Short term memory loss the inability of retrieving the recent episodes of memory.
Short term memory is the way that the brain stores the information that it has just taken in.
What Causes Short Term Memory Loss In Child ?
Here are a few reasons for short term memory loss in child:
1. Medications:
Some of the medications interfere with the brain and causes the memory loss. Possible culprits that contribute to short term memory loss include: antidepressants, antihistamines, anti anxiety medications, and muscle relaxants.
Alcohol consumption, and smoking leads to short term memory loss in adults.
2. Lack of sleep:
Lack of sleep is the more common catalyst for the short term memory loss in the children. Lack of sleep produces many emotional changes like mood disorders, anxiety, restlessness etc. These negative emotions in turn produces short term memory loss in children.
3. Attention Deficit hyperactivity Disorder:
Children with ADHD are more prone to be affected by short term memory loss. They can not concentrate or focus on the most things that they are subjected to.
4. Head Injury:
A severe hit to the brain that occur during the accident or fall may cause short term or long term memory loss.
5. Stroke:
This condition occurs when there is a blockage in the blood vessel supplying blood to the brain. Strokes can cause short term memory loss.
6. Dyslexia:
Dyslexia is the most common cause for short term memory loss in children. It is a king of comprehension disability in the children that makes the child to have difficulty in identifying the speech sounds and may get confused on how they relate to letters or words.
7. Vitamin Deficiency:
Lack of certain vitamins like B12, B6, and B3 may affect the functioning of the brain and contribute to short term memory loss.
Signs and Symptoms of Short term Memory Loss in Child:
Here are a few signs of short term memory issues in child.
This is a condition where children find it difficult ti retrieve the recently happened thing resulting in the following conditions:
- Asking the same question multiple times
- Unable to recollect where they have put something
- Forgetting the recent events or something that they saw recently.
- Children with short term memory loss may find it difficult to remember the dates and names.
- Difficult to identify the incidents that are related to them
- Difficulty to recollect the incidents that were taught to them recently.
Ways to deal a child with Short term memory loss:
Here are a few ways to deal short term memory problems in child:
1. Make teaching more interactive:
If you want your short memory child to remember something that is really important, structure the thing to be delivered in such a way that it requires response from the child.
While teaching them the math lessons ask your child what they know about the specific topic and what they are told in the classrooms.
2. Use small breaks:
Allow your child to have small breaks while studying or doing the homework that allows the child to offer some free time for the brain to refresh. Fresh mind has the ability to hold the things and retrieve the things that had happened few moments earlier.
3. Help your child to improve visualization skills:
Help your kid in forming a picture for the things that they have heard. This practice allows the kids to recall the things easily. Visuals help the child to store the things in the form of images.
4. Allow your child to track the time:
Encourage your child to use analog clock during the lessons and ask them to calculate how much time has passed and how much time left. This helps your child to achieve time management skills.
5. Encourage your child to make the checklist:
Ask your child to prepare the checklist of the things that need to be remembered. This makes the child to focus on the mandatory things. This techniques gradually makes the child to achieve to remember the things. Ask your child to verify the checklist once they are done with their homework or before going to school.
6. Encourage your child to play outdoor games:
While playing outdoors, green environment offers your child many benefits. It helps your child to enhance their social skills and outdoor playing boosts their creative levels and positive attitude. Children always feel fresh when they have active green time which ultimately makes them to overcome short term memory loss.
7. Ask your child to put all their important stuff at one place:
Assign a dedicated place for your child to keep all the necessary things. Allow your child to put all the important stuff including books, house keys, and sports equipment at the specified place. Make sure that your children put all their things at the same place when they return home.
8. Ask your child to use the sticky notes:
Encourage your child to note down the important things and events in the sticky notes as soon as they hear or see. Ask your child to paste them in their room and monitor them frequently. This activity allows your child to revision the things more times which makes them to combat short term memory loss.
9. Ask your teacher’s child to email the assignments:
Get the to do list of your kid everyday from their teacher to ensure that they are not skipping anything.
10. Give your child a homework routine to follow:
Make a schedule for your child to do the homework. Allow your child to make the following checklist for doing the homework:
- Know and record the assignment
- Get the relevant books to home
- Pack the books into the backpack after finishing the homework
11. Use Digital Remainders:
For the middle school children, use the remainders and the text messages that help them to remain the list of things they have to do.
12. Keep the external distractions to the minimum:
Keep the distractions like TV, music to minimum when you are saying your child to remember something. This helps your child to pay attention to what you are saying so that the chances are less for your child to forget.
13. Offer your child love and affection:
The children who are not at all paid attention or loved by their parents are more likely to feel sad and depressed. These kind of discouraging feelings may affect the brain functioning of your child. Show your child love and affection as much as possible. Finish your office works effectively at the workplace and spend some quality time with your child.
14. Make your child to exercise regularly:
Exercise is a best physical activity to enhance the development of your child. Include this activity in the daily routines of your child. Exercise will help your child to keep their brain active so that they can remember the things for the longer times.
15. Be Patient:
Have patience while handling your child with short term memory. It will take sometime for your child to overcome the hurdles and remember the things. Do not lose patience and get angry with your child. The way how you treat them greatly affects their behavioral changes.
16. Allow your child to play memory games:
Facilitate your child with lot of opportunities that allow them to acquire good memory skills. Make your child to remember what they have learned and when? These king of questions will make your child to gather the information.
Here are a few memory games that are helpful to your child:
- Picture Bingo
- Board games
- Crosswords, sudoku, and other news puzzles
- Word chains
- Color matching
17. Allow your child to develop a deeper understanding:
Build the connections between various words and topics. Help your child build a deeper understanding by actively engaging with the materials. Make your child to remember the information by letting them to have a meaningful connection with the materials.
18. Make the learning more creative:
Adopt the multisensory approach to teach your child. Allow your child to effectively use their senses like sight touch, and sound. This helps your child to engage in learning in more than one way.
19. Break the information into smaller bits:
Small bits of information is easy to remember than pages of information. Try to break the information as much as you can and make sure that information is effectively delivered to your child.
20. Create Rhymes and songs:
Make songs and rhymes out of the information that your children are learning. Our brains can easily store the the song patterns. This activity allows your child to improve memory and recall whenever it is required.
21. Talk to your child about favorite memories:
Favorite memories are the great way to activate your child. Talk to your kids about some memories which they like most and ask them to tell the memories that they have remembered.
22. Encourage your child to read more books and talk about them:
Books help in enhancing the intellectual development of your child. Make your child to adopt active reading strategies. Make your child to highlight the key points that makes them to easily recall the information.
Best Supplements for Short term memory loss in child:
Sometimes, vitamin supplements will help to improve the condition of short term memory loss.
- If the short term memory loss is due to the deficiency of Vitamin B12, including Vitamin B12 rich foods like fish, plant foods, milk products, cereals in your child’s diet will help them to overcome short term memory loss.
- Foods that are rich in omega 3 fatty acids fights against anxiety and depression. This nutrient also helps to reduce the symptoms of ADHD in children. Omega 3 fatty acids promote the brain health and help to reduce the shades of short term memory loss in children.
- Some of the foods like blueberries, dark chocolate, pumpkin seeds, nuts, oranges, eggs, and green tea will help in promoting the health of brain and maintains the memory in the good condition.
Treatment for short term memory loss:
Adopting strategies and some techniques works well for the acute memory loss conditions. In other cases, treatment for the short term memory loss depends on the root cause for it. Some of the treatments include:
- Surgery, chemotherapy, or radiations are recommended for brain tumors
- Medication or surgery to treat the bleeding in the brain
- Therapy or medications are preferred for dealing with the mental conditions
- Nutritional supplements
In conclusion, children with the short term memory loss may suffer in the home, school, and other public environments. It is the responsibility of the parents to diagnose the short term memory loss at the earlier stages and take effective steps to avoid its consequences in the adulthood.
