Learning disabilities and ADHD: Overlapping spectrum disorders

Clinical and psychoeducational data were analyzed for 119 children ages 8 t o 16 years who were evaluated in a child diagnostic clinic. A learning disa bility (LD) was present in 70% of the children with attention-deficit/hyper activity disorder (ADHD), with a learning disability in written expression two times more common (65%) than a learning disability in reading, math, or spelling. Children with LD and ADHD had more severe learning problems than children who had LD but no ADHD, and the former also had more severe atten tion problems than children who had ADHD but no LD. Further, children with ADHD but no LD had some degree of learning problem, and children with to bu t no ADHD had some degree of attention problem. Results suggest that learni ng and attention problems are on a continuum, are interrelated, and usually coexist.