Executive function and reading impairments in children reported by their teachers as 'hyperactive'

Twenty-one 8- to 11-year-olds identified by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997) as 'Hyperactive' were compared with controls matched for gender, age, and non-verbal reasoning on a battery of cognitive tasks. Significant group differences were found on literacy measures, task s of inhibition and executive function, but not verbal working memory measu res. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that children with hy peractivity have difficulty in behavioural inhibition, and the previously r eported high incidence of comorbidity between reading impairment and attent ion disorders. However, the data suggest that the core cognitive deficits i n executive function that are associated with hyperactivity in children are independent of the phonological deficits associated with reading impairmen t.