Abstract
Multiple complaints in the domain of writing are common among children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In this work we sought to characterize the writing disorder by studying dysgraphia in twenty 6th grade boys with ADHD and normal reading skills matched to 20 healthy boys who served as a comparison group. Dysgraphia, defined as deficits in spelling and handwriting, was assessed according to neuropsychological explanatory processes within 3 primary domains: linguistic processing, motor programming and motor kinematics. Children with ADHD made significantly more spelling errors, but showed a unique pattern introducing letter insertions, substitutions, transpositions and omissions. This error type, also known as graphemic buffer errors, can be explained by impaired attention aspects needed for motor planning. Kinematic manifestations of writing deficits were fast, inaccurate and an inefficient written product accompanied by higher levels of axial pen pressure. These results suggest that the spelling errors and writing deficits seen in children with ADHD and normal reading skills stem primarily from non-linguistic deficits, while linguistic factors play a secondary role. Recommendations for remediation include educational interventions, use of word processing and judicious use of psychostimulants.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 700-709 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Cortex |
Volume | 43 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2007 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgements. We acknowledge with thanks the comments of Dr I. Ben Dror and her generous offer of the assessment battery. This study was supported by the Mirsky Foundation.
Funding
Acknowledgements. We acknowledge with thanks the comments of Dr I. Ben Dror and her generous offer of the assessment battery. This study was supported by the Mirsky Foundation.
Funders | Funder number |
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Mirsky Foundation |
Keywords
- Agraphia
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- Handwriting
- Learning disabilities
- Spelling