ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

The Causes Of Learning Difficulties In Children With ADHD

Updated on August 17, 2016
aceresumes profile image

ICU Nurse in Children's Ward which was an exciting and challenging career. As a mother of two I look forward to sharing my experiences.

Information Processing In The Brain Are The Commonest Causes Of Academic Difficulties In Children With ADHD

Specific deficits in information processing in the brain are the commonest causes of academic difficulties in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. For many children with the disorder academic difficulty is not confined to a particular subject but occurs across a number of areas of study. A child suffering from the disorder may under achieve at school for a variety of reasons. Learning difficulties may occur in children both with and without behavior problems. Even when behavior problems are present the learning deficit may be related more to impairment in information processing than the behavior problem.

Handwriting is often untidy with children with the disorder.
Handwriting is often untidy with children with the disorder. | Source

Areas Of Difficulty In Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder On School Performance

Specific deficits in information processing in the brain are the common causes of academic difficulties in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and can affect any area of school performance but language based subject are most commonly involved. Essay and story writing is typically poor in children with the disorder. These children may have good ideas that they can express oral yet they find it extremely difficult to put their thoughts down on paper in a coherent way. Their attempts usually consist of poorly expressed written work. Spelling and reading comprehension are also often poor. Some children with have difficulties with speaking. They find it hard to find the appropriate word when speaking and may say an incorrect word as a result. For some weakness in mathematics is unrelated to impairment but rather relate to deficits, such as poor working memory. Academic difficulty is not confined to a part but occurs across a number of areas of study. When the problems become apparent behavioral problems may encounter difficulties from their earliest school years. However, many children may manage the less demanding primary school years.

Children with bipolar disorder may have a slap dash attitude towards school work and often have a near enough is good enough approach towards their homework and school assignments.

This becomes a more significant problem the child advances through school, work becomes more complex, and inferences become more important impulsivity.
This becomes a more significant problem the child advances through school, work becomes more complex, and inferences become more important impulsivity. | Source

The Combination Of Puberty And Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

The combination of puberty and the increasing demands of high school often cause problems and difficulties worsen. The disorder can also surface for the first time in high school. The causes of learning difficulties are:

  • Poor concentration is common in some children with with the disorder they absorb and retain very little information in the classroom because they are so easily distracted. They gaze out of window they stare into space and their thoughts are far removed. Such a child may misunderstand the teacher's instructions and the lesson. His diary may be empty or filled with doodling and other scribbling with the lessons in the class he may disturb others by talking.
  • He can be slow so he is so easily sidetracked such a child often finds it impossible to maintain the concentration required to read a book. Some children can concentrate reasonably well on their schedule work but lack attention to detail. This becomes a more significant problem the child advances through school and inferences become more important.
  • The impulsiveness of many children can interfere with learning inability to reflect and to plan ahead leads to carelessness that can be a significant handicap in solving mathematical problems. The child's work may be compromised by a failure to stop and think. Impulsive children will answer a question without first giving it careful consideration.

What do you think?

Should children with ADHD medicated?

See results

Poor Working Memory of Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Working Memory Impairment

The poor working memory of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a very important cause of learning impairment. Poor working memory leads to difficulties in carrying out plenty of instructions and in solving mathematical problems that require logical thinking. Progress in high school requires many hours of tedious study for a rewards that may not be enjoyed until several years later. To succeed in high school they must be prepared to defer immediate gratification for later intangible reward such as marks on his report card. If a child is able to perform any of the actions involved in forming letters in isolation, but cannot carry out these actions in an uninterrupted sequence when writing the difficulty is known as motor dyspraxia. This will have a negative impact on their schoolwork particularly in their high school years when teachers expect and demand a great deal of self sufficiency from their pupils. Even bright children without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder will obtain poor marks if they forget to bring work and books home, fail to plan ahead for projects and study and fail to hand in their work for marking.

Areas of difficulty in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can affect any area of school performance but language based subject are most commonly involved.
Areas of difficulty in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can affect any area of school performance but language based subject are most commonly involved. | Source

ADHD And Handwriting Difficulties

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are often poorly coordinated and are clumsy when manipulating objects . Handwriting is often untidy with children with the disorder and if a child is able to perform any of the actions involved in forming letters in isolation but cannot carry out these actions in an uninterrupted sequence when writing the difficulty is known as motor dyspraxia. Dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have specific difficulty in learning that interferes with a child’s ability to read. It occurs because of dyslexia can be an isolated problem in a child.

Understanding ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder more than not coexists with other disorders such as anxiety disorder and learning disorders. In the preschool to school age parents and caregivers need to act in unison to reward appropriate behavior. Medicating preschoolers with stimulants can be and called for if there are serious safety issues. Treatment with medication tends to be associated with more side effects and less effectiveness in the population of school age children in fact the first line treatment option for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is dietary changes such as eliminating additives or supplementing with essential nutrients.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)