Is There A Learning Disorders Adhd Connection?

While some children display the symptoms of learning disorders, people with ADHD can often have learning difficulties.

They may also have a learning disability or disorder, but this is a separate medical condition to ADHD.

Learning disabilities and ADHD are not connected. There are children who display no trace of learning disabilities and accompanying symptoms, despite having ADHD.

ADHD is characterized by behaviors such as difficulty in maintaining attention, finds listening really difficult, is easily distracted, struggles to sit still, struggles to play quietly and is restless and forgetful.

Learning Disabilities (L.D) on the other hand are neurological disorders that affect the understanding of or the ability to use spoken or written language. The disability can show up as an impaired ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or complete math calculations.

Learning Disabilities are not the same as learning difficulties. Children with ADHD can often experience learning difficulties due to their ADHD. Clearly, ADHD behaviors can interrupt a child''s ability to absorb and apply what is being taught in the classroom.

Frequently, both ADHD and L.D''s coexist and it is difficult to identify if one is a contributory factor in the other. Problems of self-regulation, inattentiveness, impulsive behaviors and hyperactivity could coincide with that of the inability to recognize and digest what is being taught but do not, by themselves create the learning disability.

ADHD and learning disabilities are usually spotted and diagnosed in school settings once children enter an environment that requires adherence to schedules and concentration is needed. Also once children are among their peers it can become more obvious if their behavior or learning abilities are out of step with the majority of the class.

According to present statistics, in every class of 25 to 30 children, one child is likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, a L.D or a combination of both.

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ADHD is broken down into three types:
The inattentive type, who is easily distracted, forgets instructions, lacks attention to detail and tends to lose things like homework or toys. Then there is the hyperactive- impulsive type who finds sitting still a real challenge, is always in motion with loud shouting and constant talking. Finally there is the combined type which is a mixture of the two and the most common.

With L.D''s there are two main categories, developmental speech and language disorders and academic skills disorders. Within these categories there are different diagnosis. Dyslexia (impacts reading abilities), dysgraphia (difficulty in writing) and dyscalculia (inversion of numerical digits) fall under academic disorders. Articulation disorder, language disorders such as expressive language disorder and receptive language disorder fall under the wider ranges of language disorders.

If you feel your child is displaying learning disorders, ADHD or a learning disability you should contact their school and speak to your doctor about further testing.

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