Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, affects how a person pays attention, engages with others and expresses his energy levels. At times, ADHD is the participating cause of a leaning disorder. Learning disorders afflict 5 percent of the students in U.S. public schools, notes the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, or AACAP.
Basics
According to MayoClinic.com, having a child who experiences both ADHD and a learning disorder is not an uncommon occurrence. The AACAP reports that in order to be diagnosed with a learning disorder the person's reading, math or writing skills have to fall significantly below what she would be expected to know based on her age, intelligence and schooling.
Treatment
Several treatment options are available for a person with ADHD. The treatments for ADHD may help to reduce some of the consequences of the learning disorder. Group-based social skills training can help a person with ADHD learn how to properly interact with others and react to how others are feeling, notes HelpGuide.org. Behavior therapies can also be beneficial at reducing unwanted behaviors, through consequences, and increasing desired behaviors, through the use of reinforcement.
Medication is often used to reduce the lack of attention, impulsiveness and hyperactive behaviors, which are associated with ADHD and can contribute to the development of a learning disorder, notes Teens Health.
Interventions
In order to deal with ADHD and learning disabilities, changes have to be made to the environment a person finds herself in. According to Teens Health, children will often receive an individualized education program, or IEP, that lays out what steps the school is going to take in order to help the child achieve academically. Schools and teachers may spend extra time working with the child, teaching him through styles that match his learning style. A child with ADHD and a learning disability may work with a tutor or spend time in school developing his organizational and academic strategies.
Considerations
Although ADHD can induce a learning disorder, it is also possible for a person to be labeled with a learning disorder due to the fact that his ADHD has gone undiagnosed. When a person has ADHD, but does not receive a diagnosis, the consequences of the disorder can lead to problems learning. When a diagnosis of ADHD is given to a child, teachers and parents generally make changes to the learning environment and the way things are taught to fit with the manifestation of ADHD. When this does not happen due to lack of diagnosis of ADHD, a misdiagnosis of a learning disorder could result.
Warning
Ensuring proper treatments and interventions are set in place can be very important for a person dealing with ADHD and a learning disorder. The AACAP reports that when learning disorders go undiagnosed and untreated the result can be a child who falls further and further behind in her academic development. Also, the frustrations this child experiences can result in low self-esteem and emotional problems, notes the AACAP. Therefore, the earlier a child is identified with ADHD and a learning disability and treatments are begun the better the prognosis.
