Effects of neurological processes on decoding, reading comprehension, and listening comprehension in children with ADHD

This study examined children with ADHD who have varying abilities in phonics and working memory to pinpoint how those skills impact reading abilities. Sixty two children with ADHD were assessed on phonological processing and working memory to determine how such skills affected decoding, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and attitude toward reading. Three main findings arose from this study. First, the outcome of reading and reading related skills broke into two factors. Factor 1, consisting of decoding and reading comprehension, reflected one's skills in phonological processing. Factor 2 involved listening comprehension (and appeared to require no phonics to complete the task). Second, children with lower versus higher skills in phonological processing differed on both factors, but in unexpected ways. Specifically, children with low phonological processing skills performed more poorly than children with intact phonological processing skills on measures of decoding and reading comprehension. However, children with low phonological processing performed better in listening comprehension than children with intact phonological processing.;Third, levels of listening comprehension versus oral reading differed in the two phonological processing groups and across age. Children with low phonological processing skills consistently achieved higher scores in listening comprehension than reading related activities while children with intact skills consistently achieved higher scores in reading related activities than listening comprehension. As a function of age, children in the intact phonological processing group performed better in oral reading than listening comprehension when young (under 13) and when old (over 13). In contrast, young children in the low phonological processing group did better in listening comprehension than oral reading. Older children in the low group showed better oral reading scores than listening comprehension.;Working memory abilities only affected listening comprehension in that children low in working memory performed more poorly on the measure of listening comprehension than did children with intact working memory abilities. Children's attitude toward reading was affected by their ability to decode and comprehend what they read. Results provide specific information to aid in refined intervention procedures for children with ADHD who demonstrate difficulties in the area of reading and reading related activities.