Dyslexia Institutes of America

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Dyslexia vs. AD/HD-ADD

2003 UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute Summer Series on Neurodevelopmental Disorders presents Professor of Psychology, Dr. Bruce Pennington University of Denver, discussing dyslexia, ADHD and speech/language disorders.

All too often struggling school age children are thought to have Attention Deficit Hyper-Activity Disorder (most commonly ADHD-Inattentive Type, also known as ADD).  This is not always the case, at least exclusively. Here are some important facts that you should know about AD/HD and Dyslexia.

  • Both ADD-AD/HD and Dyslexia can affect reading fluency and word decoding levels. Dyslexia reading difficulty is based in word level decoding difficulties and/or slow, laborious reading execution. ADD-AD/HD reading difficulties are based in attentional/impulsive miscues such as skipping words, "rewriting"/anticipating sentences (incorrectly of course), and the need to repeat sentences, changing word tenses or endings. 
  • Someone with ADD may not show any outward behavioral difficulties and may be able to concentrate on tasks they like, but have difficulty sustaining attention / focus / concentration with certain high-stimulus tasks (e.g., video games) or slow low-stimulus tasks (e.g., reading).
      
  • Both ADD-AD/HD and Dyslexia can affect Working Memory (reading comprehension, organization, following directions) and behavior.
  • Both ADD-AD/HD and Dyslexia can significantly affect spelling.
  • ADD-AD/HD can be treated with medications, Dyslexia can not.
  • Up to 40% of Dyslexics also have ADD (i.e.,  AD/HD-Inattentive Type).
  • ADD-AD/HD and Dyslexia can run in families.
  • Although not genetically linked there is a high rate of co-occurrence between ADD-AD/HD and visual motor integration difficulties (copying what is seen).
  • ADD-AD/HD is caused by a specific chemical imbalance in the brain - it effects in everyday life (Summer vacation included!), NOT JUST in school.
  • MANY Dyslexics are either wrongly diagnosed as AD/HD or exclusively diagnosed with AD/HD. In both cases Dyslexia is not treated!.