Why Children With ADHD May Have Trouble Reading

Why Children With ADHD May Have Trouble Reading ADHD School Print Why Children With ADHD May Have Trouble Reading By Keath Low Keath Low, MA, is a therapist and clinical scientist with the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina. She specializes in treatment of ADD/ADHD. Learn about our editorial policy Keath Low Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on July 06, 2016 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on September 25, 2019 ADHD Overview Symptoms Causes Diagnosis Treatment Living With In Children Sean Gallup/Getty Images News/Getty Images Many children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulty with reading comprehension. Because reading plays such a crucial role in a childs life and can even affect a students self-esteem,  its  important to be aware of the literacy struggles that disproportionately affect children with ADHD and to get help for them.   The Importance of Reading for Children Reading is such an important part of school and learning in general, whether or not a child has ADHD. Every subject area requires that a student be able to comprehend reading material and retain that information. This involves not only understanding the words in a passage, but also remembering, organizing, analyzing, and constructing meaning from those words. When students have a poor grasp of what they read, every area of academic functioning for that student is impacted. Delays in reading ability can lead to not only gaps in learning and academic frustrations, but also feelings of inadequacy and self-consciousness for the student. Thus, its critical that children with ADHD who struggle to read  receive resources to help them improve. How Inattention Causes Reading Problems If you find that your child with ADHD reads fluently and accurately when he  reads aloud to you, yet has trouble understanding and remembering what he just read,  its likely that problems with sustained attention are getting in the way.  Many  students with ADHD  can fall behind while reading, missing phrases in the text, skipping over words or sentences, losing track of where they are on the page, missing details and connections. This is especially evident when passages are long and complex. Boredom and fatigue can take over and attention can quickly wander elsewhere. The Role of Working Memory Deficits   In addition to remaining alert and  resisting distractions, reading comprehension requires a student to be able to recall what has been read in preceding sentences and paragraphs. This way she can develop and modify an adequate working understanding of the message of each section of the text and how those components are related to one another. Processing and integrating all this information is complex. The student must be able to sort through the concepts in the text, select the most pertinent information, hold that information in mind and then analyze it. A child must also be able to retrieve, relate, and apply relevant prior knowledge quickly and effectively in order to draw inferences. Keeping track of multiple concepts at once and continuously self-monitoring to make sure what they are reading makes sense can be incredibly difficult for a student with impaired working memory (often a problem for children with ADHD). What Do Reading Problems  Mean for a Child? If you are concerned about  your childs reading comprehension, please speak to a pediatrician. Sometimes these challenges are related to a co-occurring reading disability such as  dyslexia. The good news is that there are strategies to improve reading comprehension in students with ADHD. With guidance, you can help your child gain proper reading skills and confidence.