1037L - How Does ADHD Contribute to Children’s Language and Literacy Deficits?

This session is developed by, and presenters invited by, Spoken Language and Learning in School Age Individuals. In this presentation we explore potential links among children’s levels of inattention, hyperactivity/ impulsivity, and executive function and various language and literacy skills in a study sample consisting of four groups: children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), children with developmental language disorder (DLD), children with concomitant ADHD+DLD, and children with typical development (TD). Both categorical and dimensional analyses were conducted. Results suggest links among children’s ADHD symptoms and language and literacy skills were primarily by way of pragmatics and that elevations of inattention symptoms were responsible for this connection. The strength of ADHD-pragmatics associations, however, varied across groups. Provisional clinical implications will be discussed.