Just as there are many types of dyslexia and many underlying causes for dyslexia, there are also a variety of reasons for a difficulty in following instructions. We will cover each in this article. Knowing that there are a variety of causes our tendency might be to "diagnose" the exact cause. This has some value but not as much as we might think. Causes can overlap. So it is best to take a holistic approach rather than an atomistic approach (Treat them all instead of diagnosing and specifically attacking one)
With that in mind, it is good to have an understanding of each possible cause and then do exercises which work each individually in a variety of ways as well as work them in combination. This overall holistic approach gives the brain the variety it needs to generalize the skills and overcome the difficulty.
So let's dive in.
A Weakness in One or More Learning Micro-Skills
Micro-Skills are the foundation of learning. We tend to think of intelligence as one specific thing. However, it is actually a combination of a variety of smaller skills we call micro-skills. Each learning or remembering task is dependent on, and made up of, these micro-skills.
For example, if we try to remember a sequence of numbers or letters we might rely upon auditory memory or visual memory. Try this out for yourself. Try to remember the following sequence and look away from the page.
739521
Now, how did you do it?
Did you repeat the numbers auditorily internally?
Or did you see the numbers in your head?
Okay, now try this one
HhkrR1t
If you are auditory dominant and you tried to store it in your mind that way you would have a lot of difficulties. That's because trying to store the capitals and lower case letters just doubled the amount of information. The same number of symbols but far more information.
To do this efficiently we would actually use both. Auditory memory is very good for sequencing while visual memory can be easier to recall and store more information. So we could remember the sequence in our auditory memory and remember capital or lower case in visual memory. Working together these two forms of memory are quite powerful. And, as you can see, a weakness in either could cause a difficulty in remembering sequences of instructions. Hence, a difficulty in following instructions.
Let's use another example. Say I gave the following instructions:
"Go to the store and get bread, mayonnaise, a can of tuna, pickles, lettuce, and milk"
You might tromp off to the store repeating that sequence over and over auditorily. Or you might just visualize a nice tuna fish sandwich and know to get everything for that. So, in that case, you would be storing two pieces of information, the store and lunch, rather than seven pieces of information. You can see how using these two micro-skills, visual memory and auditory memory, are far more powerful together than individually.
It's not always about the strength of these skills. Sometimes we can be strong in a micro-skill but simply not "remember" to use it for a given task. This is why it's important to practice the strong skills as well. Because doing so can "remind" the brain to use them. In other words, a skill can be strong but compartmentalized. The solution to this is variety in exercises. And not necessarily looking for the challenging micro-skill exercises. Certainly, you would want to do the challenging ones, just not at the exclusion of the easy ones. Everything works together.
Kinesthetic and Proprioception
The above example is actually, for simplicity, leaving out a third, very important, category of micro-skills. The kinesthetic.
We don't typically think about kinesthetic memory and proprioception as having much to do with following instructions, reading, or any other type of learning. But that is a big mistake. Proprioception (our awareness of our body in space) has an incredible connection to memory and learning skills.
If you look at this from a neuroanatomical perspective you will find that proprioception and logical thinking both start in the same place in the brain, the hippocampus. The pre-frontal cortex is involved as well but the origination of these two things seems to happen in the hippocampus. Many movement experts such as myself, have recognized the correlation between improving proprioception and improving learning ability. Now neuroscience is showing us why.
Another interesting thing about the hippocampus is that when it grows the amygdala shrinks. The amygdala is the fear and anxiety center. Of course, we all know that when fear and anxiety is high learning and remembering is near impossible. So developing proprioception has both the benefit of growing the logic and sequencing center of the brain but also quieting the fear center.
It's a bit counter-intuitive but there is a strong connection between proprioception and all forms of learning, remembering, and following instructions.
The ancient Greek orators knew this well. These famous philosophers and politicians used what was called The Method of Loci. This was also called the memory palace. This method entailed mentally walking through a known area, such as their house. Each area of their mental picture would be associated with a section of their speech. They were using spatial memory to remember sequences. This method has been used by World Memory Champions to remember long lists of names, numbers, etc.
Following instructions requires remembering sequences. As you can see, there are many underlying ways of remembering sequences. It is not simply memory, but instead various forms of memory that all work together. If one or more is weak, not used, or not working well with the others then poor sequencing will be a symptom of those underlying problems.
These skills are so subtle and so fundamental that most of us are simply not aware that we are doing them. They are usually below our level of consciousness. Yet taken together they make up memory skills, sequencing skills, and many other learning skills. It is these fundamental skills that we need to work on to develop the over arching skills.
But not remembering a sequence of tasks is not the only cause for difficulty following instructions.