Consequences of co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder on children's language impairments.
OBJECTIVE
Co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and communication disorders represent a frequently encountered challenge for school-based practitioners. The purpose of the present study was to examine in more detail the clinical phenomenology of co-occurring ADHD and language impairments (LIs).


METHODS
Measures of nonword repetition, sentence recall, and tense marking were collected from 57 seven- to nine-year-old children. The performances of children with ADHD+LI status were compared with those of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with typical development (TD).


RESULTS
ADHD status had no independent detrimental impact on the affected children's LIs (SLI = ADHD+LI < TD). A modest positive correlation was found between the severity of children's ADHD symptoms and their sentence recall performance, suggesting a tendency for affected children who had higher levels of ADHD symptoms to perform better than those children with lower levels.


CONCLUSIONS
These outcomes are difficult to reconcile with attention-deficit/information-processing accounts of the core deficits associated with SLI. Potential protective mechanisms associated with ADHD status are discussed.
Sean M
SM
Redmond
Andrea C
AC
Ash
Tiffany P
TP
Hogan
D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index