Unlocking Achievement in Students with Dyslexia and ADHD
Structured literacy, an evidence-based dyslexia intervention, combined with thoughtful accommodations, benefits students with ADHD and reading disabilities. Learn about these approaches here.
Learning to read is the most difficult cognitive task for many children who are just starting school. Without a strong foundation, students may never use reading as an effective learning tool. Some students, particularly those with dyslexia, face challenges that undermine reading development and require remediation. The good news: Appropriate interventions work.
Dyslexia, a genetically rooted reading disability, affects the ability to decode (sound out) and spell words. Students with dyslexia are typically inaccurate in reading and spelling. They do not understand how to manipulate the sounds that form words. Their oral reading is often slow. They may focus so much on decoding individual words, not content and meaning, that their comprehension is compromised.
When teaching students with dyslexia, it is important to use evidence-based practices that have a significantly higher success rate than other approaches. Structured literacy is one such approach. It provides daily instruction in phonics through a carefully sequenced program offered to small groups of students with similar skill levels. This type of teacher-supervised instruction, also referred to as multisensory or Orton-Gillingham based, integrates the teaching of reading, spelling, and handwriting.
How to Help Students with Dyslexia
- Provide an appropriate, evidence-based reading program that requires implementation as designed, not piecemeal, until a student shows that they are ready to move on.
- Assign homework that reflects the student’s current reading level so they can complete work independently.
- Utilize oral exams that allow them to show what they know until reading skills are remediated.
- Give untimed tests.
A side note: Some students benefit from audiobooks reflecting what is being taught, though this does nothing to improve reading.
[Take This Self-Test: Does My Child Have Dyslexia?]
How ADHD Affects Reading
Roughly half of children with ADHD have learning disorders that affect academic achievement. This is in addition to the impact of inattention and related ADHD symptoms. Executive function challenges also impact reading and writing. Students with ADHD may decode well, but still not read accurately. Executive function includes the ability to stay focused on the correct place on the page, as well as to process and organize information.
Students with ADHD may also skip around the page, read impulsively or too quickly, or miss word endings, modifiers, and smaller words. They may lose track of content details and struggle to sort new information. They may not be able to maintain attention or retain information through longer passages. Comprehension becomes undermined by these inaccuracies.
Students with ADHD would benefit from:
- Use of prescribed stimulant medication, which has been shown to improve reading abilities.
- Placement in less distracting classrooms (such as having desks facing forward and less clutter) and with well-organized teachers.
- Strategies that help students stay focused on the page, like using a straight edge or their finger to stay on a line.
- Textbooks in which students have permission to underline and annotate pages, which aids focus.
- Direct instruction in higher level reading strategies, such as notetaking, previewing, and summarizing text.
Students with dyslexia are entitled to an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan that includes comprehensive direct instruction using an evidence-based reading program. For students with ADHD, an expansive plan should support all areas of executive function.
If this seems like a lot to ask, rest assured that supports for students with dyslexia and ADHD benefit all students’ growth.
Dyslexia and ADHD: Next Steps
- Read: The Defining Signs of Dyslexia Too Often Ignored
- Get This Free Download: Signs of Dyslexia at Every Age
- Read: Reading Strategies That Grow with Your Child
- Read: When Your Child Has ADHD and Dyslexia — Treatment for Complex Symptoms
Mark Bertin, M.D., is a developmental pediatrician and author of How Children Thrive.
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