by Aimee Keenan-Greene

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 10 percent of children ages four to 17  have been diagnosed with ADHD.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD) is a neurobehavioral disorder characterized by inattentiveness, distractibility, hyperactivity, and impulsive behavior.  Untreated ADHD can have long-term adverse affects on academic performance, vocational success, and social-emotional development. ADHD children have difficulty sitting still and paying attention and do not do well at school.

Now a new study in the journal Pediatrics says ADHD is strongly associated with an increased risk of written language disorder, or WLD, for both boys and girls. Girls with ADHD are at higher risk of having WLD with reading disability (RD) compared to boys with ADHD.  According to the study, boys and girls are at the same risk of having WLD without RD.

Researchers conducted a population-based birth cohort studyof all children born from 1976–1982 in Rochester, Minnesota, over the age of five. Information from medical, school, and private tutorial records was abstracted. Cumulative incidences of WLD with or without reading disability (RD), identified with any of 3 formulas, among children with and without ADHD and hazard ratios were calculated. 

Written language disorder is a learning disability where a person's ability to communicate in writing is substantially below the level normally expected based on the individual's age, intelligence, life experiences, educational background, or physical impairments. The disability affects both physical reproduction of letters and words, and the organization of thoughts and ideas in written compositions. 

ADHD appears early in life with boys diagnosed more often than girls.