AD/HD

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (AD/HD)

A disorder that affects a person’s ability to pay attention and control impulsive behaviors. AD/HD affects 3-5% of the school population. Researchers have not yet identified the cause of AD/HD, but they do know that genetics plays a role in which half of the children diagnosed with AD/HD also have a family member(s) with AD/HD. An individual can have more than one disability or disorder. Some studies have shown up to 50 percent of people diagnosed with a learning disability also have ADHD, but one does not cause the other.

The Difference between Dyslexia and AD/HD

Individuals with dyslexia and individuals with AD/HD have similar characteristics and are quite often confused and even misdiagnosed. Both can cause difficulties in reading and paying attention because reading is so demanding the individual quickly gets fatigued, which limits his or her ability to sustain concentration but for different reasons. A student with dyslexia has difficulties in reading that typically stems from being dysfluent due to significant problems with reading accuracy. A dyslexic dysfluent reading is characterized by misreading words. A student with AD/HD can also struggle with fluency; however, his or her dysfluent reading is characterized by omitting words or word endings, skipping over punctuation, and losing his or her place while reading. Both can hurt reading comprehension and can cause a student to dislike or avoid reading.

Both can also have trouble with writing and or handwriting. A dyslexic student has significant problems with spelling, grammar, proofreading, and organization. Whereas, an AD/HD student struggles with organization and proofreading.

Due to these differences and causes of a student’s struggles with reading and writing, it is crucial to get an accurate diagnosis to get the appropriate intervention and not cause further complications.