A study shows that children who have ADHD have a much higher risk of developing a written language disorder (WLD), than do children who do not have ADHD. A written language disorder is something different from reading disabilities. This finding indicates that kids who have ADHD should be screened for a variety of learning disabilities.
The purpose of the study was to see if there was a link between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, (ADHD), and written language disorder (WLD). The researchers looked at a sample of 5,718 children who were born in Rochester, Minnesota, between the years 1976 and 1982. Most of the kids were white, and from a middle-class background. The children were tracked from the time they were born until they became 19 years old.
The researchers used information that was taken from medical records, and also from public schools, private schools, and private tutorial settings, in order to learn which children had ADHD, and which did not have it.
Overall, the researchers found that the risk of developing WLD was higher in children who had been diagnosed with ADHD than in the group of children who had not been diagnosed with ADHD.
The researchers also found that boys who had ADHD had a 65% risk of having difficulties with writing. Boys who did not have ADHD only had a 16.5% risk of having a written language disorder. For girls, the numbers were different. Girls who had ADHD had a 57% risk of developing a WLD, while girls without ADHD had only a 9.4% chance of it.
Typically, when a child has been diagnosed with ADHD, the child also gets screened for, or tested for, dyslexia. The results of this study emphasize that kids with ADHD, both boys and girls, should also be screened to see if they have a written language disorder. This recommendation matches the one issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
What is a WLD? It stands for written language disorder. It is a learning disability, but it is different from the types of learning disabilities that affect reading. Kids who have a written language disorder have an impaired ability to express themselves through the written word. It can also cause a child to have memory issues, organizational issues, problems with spelling words correctly, and difficulties with making their handwriting legible.
Dyslexia is another learning disability. Kids who have dyslexia have problems with reading, writing, and spelling. This disorder includes difficulties with reading comprehension, word recognition, and decoding abilities. It may sound similar to a WLD, but the two are separate learning disabilities.
Image by Brendan DeBrincat on Flickr