Did you know that dyslexia forms part of a wider group of conditions that include ADHD/ADD? Most of the time this can present as poor focus and attention. To a greater or lesser extent, students with dyslexia will experience this so let’s find out more about ADHD/ADD and then what can be done in class to support poor focus and attention.

To start with, I am not saying that if a student has dyslexia then they have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), but it is common for a student with their neurodiversity profile that is mostly related to dyslexia having aspects of ADHD/ADD. To be fair, when reading and writing, working memory and slow processing cause challenges, then they are going to bring about poor focus and attention.

The TEDx talk below from Jessica McCabe gives a great insight into what life is like for someone where their neurodiversity profile is centred around ADHD. Jessica shares lots of information on her YouTube channel “How To ADHD”.

As you can see from the video, some of the behaviours that she has outlined are not unfamiliar for students who may have a neurodiversity profile that is mostly dyslexia related.

She specifically mentions behaviours judged as:

• Fidgety,

• Distractable,

• Procrastinating,

Whilst they may be the presentations of the challenges of the mind the causation could be:

• The brain requiring stimulation to focus,

• Deficits in executive functioning,

• The brain struggling to keep up.

I have written and talked about how much we as adults react to behaviour from young people with judgement and making assumptions. As adults we should be getting to know the causation of poor behaviour in order to implement the most effective strategies to boost engagement in learning.

But what can be done in class to support the needs of a student who may be experiencing presentations of ADHD/ADD?

SENCO, Faye Favill has written a very useful resource pack on how to support a child that struggles with focus and attention challenges. She shares some tips on helping a child with ways to help themselves but also tips on what can be done to support learning externally around the child or young person.