Evidence-based interventions to support children with developmental amnesia in education

Developmental amnesia (DA) is a memory disorder that emerges in early childhood following an injury to the hippocampus (a brain region associated with memory). The core deficit is in episodic memory such that children with DA have difficulty recalling events from their past (including birthday parties or special occasions) but are otherwise bright and capable children with good intelligence and verbal abilities. This paper describes how DA may manifest within school and challenge educators when children do not make predicted progress in education. The paper presents a case example, discusses the challenges facing children with DA in education and reviews the evidence for interventions that can support education in this patient group by relying on the intact parts of the memory system (viz recognition memory and semantic memory). Examples of typical, but ineffective, interventions are also discussed. Although this review focuses on DA, it is likely that the interventions described here may be effective for people with less severe (or less selective) episodic memory difficulties. Overall, this paper is intended to bridge the gap between research and practice, helping educators to recognise DA and to implement effective, evidence-informed approaches to support children with episodic memory problems.