About half of all children with ADHD have at least one additional, co-existing condition. This compounds an individual’s cognitive, psychological, and social impairment. When a co-existing condition is found alongside ADHD, special consideration and a unique treatment plan is warranted. Below are some of the conditions associated with ADHD:

Reading Disabilities: (Suggestive Symptoms)

• Difficulty associating or recognizing sounds that go with letters
• Difficulty separating the sounds within words
• Difficulty sounding out words
• Delayed speech development
• Trouble rhyming
• Problems understanding and using words and grammar
• Poor spelling or reverses letters
• Short attention span
• Difficulty following directions
• Trouble distinguishing letters, numerals or sounds

Written Language Disabilities: (Suggestive Symptoms)

• Handwriting is slow and/or illegible
• Inconsistent spacing, or running out of space on the paper; irregularly sized letters
• Speaking the words out loud while writing
• Omitted words in sentences
• Difficulty with grammar and syntax structure
• Avoidance of writing tasks
• Difficulty organizing thoughts when writing them down

Language/Auditory Processing Disorders: (Suggestive Symptoms)

• Difficulty following spoken directions
• Difficulty following multi-step directions
• Difficulty expressing self verbally; recalling words or translating thoughts into words
• Poor working memory
• Extreme difficulty focusing or paying attention in noisy environments
• May hear, and thus speak, imprecisely (saying “dat” instead of “that”; running words together)
• Difficulty following and participating in conversations
• Poor reading comprehension
• Poor written output