Dyslexia and ADHD are different conditions that frequently overlap. Dyslexia makes reading, spelling, and writing hard because of how the brain processes language; ADHD makes attention, focus, and follow-through hard. A child can have one, the other, or both — and research shows that up to 50% of children with dyslexia also meet the criteria for ADHD. Knowing which you're dealing with (or whether it's both) is the key to giving your child the right kind of help.
As a parent, you may be living this in real time. One of my children has dyslexia and the other has ADHD — same house, two completely different learning journeys. Here's what I've learned about how these conditions are alike, how they differ, and how to support a child who has either or both.
What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a language-based learning difference that makes reading, spelling, and writing harder — it has nothing to do with intelligence. When my older child started school, reading was a struggle from the very first weeks. No matter how hard they tried, the words on the page wouldn't stick. That's the hallmark of dyslexia: the brain has trouble quickly and accurately connecting letters to the sounds they make, so decoding words takes enormous effort.
What it is not is a sign of low ability. Children with dyslexia are often bright, creative, and strong at problem-solving, storytelling, and big-picture thinking — their challenge is specific to written language. For the full picture, see our guide to the signs of dyslexia in children ages 5–10.
What is ADHD?
ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) affects attention, impulse control, and executive functioning — the brain's system for planning, focusing, and following through. My younger child had no trouble learning to read, but staying focused was a different story: constant movement, forgotten instructions, half-finished tasks. It isn't that a child with ADHD can't focus — it's that their attention moves fast, jumping from one thought to the next before the first is done.
And like dyslexia, ADHD comes with real strengths — energy, enthusiasm, curiosity, and the ability to hyperfocus on things that genuinely interest them.
How are ADHD and dyslexia alike?
At first I thought my kids' challenges were entirely separate. Over time, I noticed how much they had in common:
- Both children struggled in traditional classrooms built for a one-size-fits-all pace.
- Both got frustrated when work took longer than it did for their peers.
- Both, at different points, started to doubt their own abilities — the hidden cost of any learning difference.
- Both are neurodevelopmental (rooted in how the brain is wired), tend to run in families, and are unrelated to intelligence or effort.
That last point matters: in both cases, a child who looks like they "aren't trying" is usually working harder than everyone around them.
How are ADHD and dyslexia different?
The similarities are real, but the root causes are completely different — and that's what determines the right support.
- Dyslexia is about language. The core difficulty is decoding words — reading accuracy, spelling, and fluency. Even with full attention, reading is still hard.
- ADHD is about attention and self-regulation. Reading itself may be easy, but sitting still, sustaining focus, and following multi-step instructions are the hurdles.
- The fix differs. Dyslexia responds to structured, multisensory reading instruction (the Orton-Gillingham approach). ADHD responds to focus supports, movement breaks, and executive-function tools — checklists, timers, chunked tasks.
If your child's struggle is specifically with reading rather than focus, our guide on dyslexia vs. a reading delay can help you tell the difference.
Can a child have both ADHD and dyslexia?
Yes — and it's common. Research shows that up to 50% of children with dyslexia also have ADHD. When the two occur together, learning gets more complicated: a child wrestling with reading and attention needs support in more than one area at once. It also makes diagnosis trickier, because the conditions can mask or mimic each other — what looks like inattention may be avoidance of reading, and what looks like a reading problem may be lost focus.
This is exactly why a thorough evaluation matters. If you suspect both, a private evaluation (versus a school screening) is more likely to catch co-occurring conditions.
How do you support a child with ADHD, dyslexia, or both?
Success doesn't mean learning at the same pace as everyone else — it means finding the right strategies for your child. A few that work:
- For dyslexia: structured, explicit, multisensory reading practice, taught in small consistent doses. Our dyslexia intervention curriculum is built for parents to use at the kitchen table, and the workbook is available on Amazon.
- For ADHD: movement breaks, short focused work sessions, visual checklists, and clear one-step-at-a-time instructions.
- For both: protect confidence. Celebrate effort over speed, name your child's strengths out loud, and keep tasks short enough to end on a win.
- For you: get the right diagnosis, ask the school about an IEP or 504 plan, and remember you don't have to do this alone.
Whatever the mix, the message is the same: with the right tools, children with dyslexia and ADHD don't just cope — they thrive. If you'd like help figuring out next steps, get in touch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you have both ADHD and dyslexia?
Yes. They're separate conditions that often co-occur — up to half of children with dyslexia also have ADHD. A child can have either one alone or both together.
Is dyslexia a type of ADHD?
No. Dyslexia is a language-based reading difficulty, and ADHD is a difficulty with attention and self-regulation. They're distinct, even though they share some surface symptoms and frequently overlap.
What percentage of children with dyslexia also have ADHD?
Research suggests up to 50% of children with dyslexia also meet the criteria for ADHD, which is why a careful evaluation that checks for both is so important.
How can I tell whether my child has ADHD or dyslexia?
Look at where the struggle lives. If reading, spelling, and decoding are hard even when your child is focused, that points to dyslexia. If reading is fine but focus, follow-through, and sitting still are the problem, that points to ADHD. A professional evaluation confirms it — and can identify both.
Do ADHD and dyslexia affect intelligence?
No. Neither has anything to do with intelligence. Children with dyslexia and ADHD are often highly capable; they simply learn and process in a different way and need strategies matched to how their brains work.