Children with dyslexia and those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often exhibit similar characteristics when it comes to difficulties in reading and writing (Dakin & Erenberg, 2020). The shared aspects of these challenges can pose a puzzle for both parents and teachers, making it a bit tricky to discern which specific conditions might be influencing a child’s struggles in these areas.
It’s interesting to note that 30% of children diagnosed with dyslexia also have ADHD. Both ADHD and dyslexia tend to run in families (Dakin & Erenberg, 2020). Understanding this familial pattern can be instrumental in early identification and intervention strategies. By recognizing the potential co-occurrence of these conditions, parents, educators, and healthcare professionals can collaborate to provide support tailored to the individual needs of each child.
Difficulty sustaining attention to reading tasks
Both students with ADHD and students with dyslexia may encounter challenges when it comes to sustaining attention during reading tasks (Dakin & Erenberg, 2020). This difficulty often arises due to the increased effort and concentration required in the process. For individuals with ADHD, maintaining focus can be particularly demanding, as their attention tends to wander more easily. Similarly, students with dyslexia may find reading tasks challenging due to difficulties in decoding and processing written text.
Weaknesses in Fluency
Both students with ADHD and students with dyslexia may be dysfluent readers, but with different characteristics (Dakin & Erenberg, 2020). When reading aloud, a child with ADHD may miss punctuation and word endings or easily lose their place. On the other hand, a child with dyslexia is likely to have difficulty reading words with accuracy. Remember that dyslexia is essentially an impairment in the development of basic reading skills. A child with ADHD may have typically developing reading skills when they can focus (perhaps while reading a favorite book) but will demonstrate dysfluent reading while reading a non-preferred text.
Essentially, the reading errors that students with ADHD make are not necessarily about word reading accuracy. They may read The children are playing in the field as The children play in the field. This error is not because the child could not read the words are playing due to a weakness in word identification. Rather, the child’s mind may have been working quickly and getting the gist of the text but not attending to each word closely.
The Impact on Comprehension
Both types of readers may have difficulty comprehending what they read because of their dysfluency (Dakin & Erenberg, 2020). Regardless of the root cause of reading errors, they still impact the reader’s ability to make meaning of the text.
Motivation to Read
Both types of readers may avoid reading and not enjoy it (Dakin & Erenberg, 2020). Have you heard of the Matthew Effect? In 1986, researcher Keith Stanovich related the Gospel According to Matthew to the development of early reading skills. He described “rich get richer and poor get poorer patterns of reading development.” Stanovich explained that good readers will read more and gain more vocabulary knowledge, while poor readers will read less and gain fewer words. Read more about the importance of vocabulary instruction here.
Both students with ADHD and students with dyslexia may fall into this “poor get poorer” pattern. Students with dyslexia may avoid reading because of the effort involved. Students with ADHD may only be interested in certain authors, themes, or genres and avoid others. Either situation may result in the child falling behind in terms of background knowledge and vocabulary.
How ADHD and Dyslexia Impact Written Language
ADHD and dyslexia can also impact written language skills. There may be overlap in the ways that each condition impacts a child’s ability to express themselves in writing. A student with ADHD may have difficulty with organization, proofreading, and handwriting. Students with dyslexia may have difficulty with spelling and grammar in addition to difficulty with organization, proofreading, and handwriting.
How to support readers with ADHD and Dyslexia in your classroom
Now that we’ve talked about the ways ADHD and dyslexia can impact young readers, let’s get to the good part: What can we do to help them?
Structured literacy
For students with dyslexia and undiagnosed reading and writing weaknesses, it will be essential to ensure access to explicit instruction that follows a structured literacy approach as opposed to a balanced literacy approach. Structured literacy benefits all students but is essential for students who are predisposed to struggle when learning to read.
Reading Accommodations to Consider
Remember that both groups of students we’ve discussed may struggle with reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension, even if these issues present themselves differently. Both students with ADHD and dyslexia will benefit from having content-area material read aloud to them, access to audiobook versions of texts they are expected to read, and the use of text-to-speech (TTS) technology to support their comprehension.
These students may also benefit from having additional time to complete reading tasks, but we want to make sure that their time is being spent well in a way that encourages success. If the student is reading so slowly that they struggle to recall what they have read, then the options above (read-alouds, audiobooks, TTS) may make more sense.
Writing support
Students with dyslexia often require global support in the area of writing. They need explicit instruction in spelling and grammar skills, as well as support with learning to organize and proofread written responses. They may also require explicit instruction in handwriting skills. In my last blog, we talked about how dyslexia, ADHD, and dysgraphia commonly co-occur. If one of these conditions is diagnosed or suspected, it may make sense to evaluate for the others!
There are several accommodations that can support students with ADHD and dyslexia through the writing process.
- Use pre-conferencing to teach the use of graphic organizers to plan/structure written responses. Teachers can gradually release responsibility to students as they learn the steps required to successfully plan a paragraph.
- Employ the use of sentence frames and sentence starters, which will help students structure their written responses and expand the complexity of their writing.
- Teach students to edit their writing using a simple checklist. One example is COPS: Capitals, Organization, Punctuation, Spelling.
- Provide the student with a personal dictionary of high frequency words to refer to as an aid for spelling. I prefer the Fry list over the Dolch because it has been updated and the words are listed by the frequency of occurrence. There are many free printable versions of high frequency words available online.
- Allow the student to provide oral answers when their written language skills are not being assessed.
Students with ADHD benefit from accommodations to help them maintain focus during reading tasks. These may include:
Accommodations for focus
- Provide frequent teacher check-ins to check for understanding and task completion
- Assign longer reading tasks in small chunks and have the student check in at predetermined points to monitor comprehension. The student can either check in with an adult or refer to a teacher-created checklist to determine if they are on track.
- Access to audiobooks, teacher or peer read-alouds, or text-to-speech technology to support comprehension
- Flexible seating options and motor breaks can help students sustain focus for longer periods of time.
Fluency Instruction
Students with ADHD may also benefit from fluency instruction related to the unique errors that students with ADHD tend to make, such as ignoring punctuation, omitting word endings, and forgetting to self-monitor their comprehension. Students with dyslexia should receive robust fluency instruction as part of their specialized instruction through a structured literacy approach.
Both groups of students can be encouraged to reread for clarity and be offered additional time to complete reading tasks.
Vocabulary and Background Knowledge
Because students with ADHD and students with dyslexia may both be reluctant readers, it is important to ensure that they have adequate opportunities to build their background knowledge and vocabulary. This can be accomplished through classroom read-alouds, access to audiobooks, and even podcasts! Some of my sons’ favorite podcasts include Mystery Kids, Brains On, and Story Pirates.
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Sources:
Dakin, K. E., & Erenberg, G. (2020, April 1). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and dyslexia. International Dyslexia Association. https://dyslexiaida.org/attention-deficithyperactivity-disorder-adhd-and-dyslexia/
