Your doctor will investigate your childhood history for signs of learning disabilities that often accompany childhood ADHD because the illness is sometimes mistaken for a learning disability.

Most children with ADHD can learn in school without special assistance, even though they may be easily distracted or have trouble sitting still in class. Children with both ADHD and learning disabilities, however, tend to have more severe learning problems than children without ADHD.

ADHD and Learning Styles

Students with ADHD are likely to have trouble listening, sitting still, focusing for extended periods of time, and having good reading and oral language skills. ADHD children are also more likely to have language processing difficulties in a wide variety of areas, including:

• Syntax. May have difficulty using and/or comprehending the grammatical and structural components of sentences.

• Semantics. May have difficulty comprehending written and spoken language, poor vocabulary, problems finding words, and difficulty using context in reading comprehension.

• Pragmatics. May not be able to use language to interact with others socially or to acquire information, express feelings, or conduct a conversation with people of different ages.

• Metalinguistics. May not be able to understand and use humor, multiple meanings, ambiguity, and figurative language. May struggle to divide words into syllables and sounds.

Auditory Processing Problems

Children with ADHD may also have auditory processing problems that can make it very difficult for them to follow directions, get information from reading, or listen. They may also have problems with metacognition, or the ability to know what they know and to understand what they need to know in order to learn effectively. Students with difficulties in this area cannot easily deal with the strategies involved in problem solving.

Because ADHD children with language problems can have auditory processing difficulties, your doctor may ask you if you ever had trouble in the following areas:

• Problems with remembering information you heard in the short-term

• Trouble following instructions

• Requiring more time than normal to process written and spoken language

• Difficulties listening in environments with noise distractions

• Being unable to grasp main ideas or details when someone is talking

• Poor writing skills

• Inability to engage in classroom discussions

• Engaging in tangential narratives and conversations

• Difficulty finding the right words in speaking situations

• Problems with inferred meaning, or an inability to look beyond the obvious

Children with language and speech disorders are reported to be more likely to have problems with reading, writing, and underachievement in school. Some research also suggests that disorders of speech and language may increase the risk of having lower IQ scores. The deficits reflected in those scores may continue into adulthood.

Chronic problems with speech or language have been shown to increase the likelihood of behavioral problems in children and adults. Research has also suggested that children who have problems with the rules for producing sounds may have lower-skilled employment than siblings who do not have these problems.