Arithmetic Disabilities and ADD Subtypes

Abstract

This study investigated whether specific academic deficits were associated with attention-deficit disorder (ADD) subtypes. Twenty students (ages 8-12) with attention-deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADD/H) were compared to 20 students with attention-deficit disorder without hyperactivity (ADD/noH). Group differences were compared using a MANCOVA, and paired t tests were used to compare within-group differences. Dependent variables for the within-group differences were four achievement subtest scores from the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised: Letter-Word Identification, Passage Comprehension, Calculation, and Applied Problems. Consistent with much of the previous research, no significant between-group differences were found on the achievement measures. Significant differences did, however, appear in the six within-group comparisons, all involving lower performance on the Math Calculations subtest. For students with ADD/H, only one comparison (with Math Applied Problems) reached significance. Students with ADD/noH, however, had significantly lower scores on the Calculation subtest compared to all of the other achievement subtests. These results provided additional support for the hypothesis that inattention exerts a specific and deleterious effect on the acquisition of arithmetic computation skills. These findings have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD as conceptualized in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), because they suggest that students with ADHD-Predominantly Inattentive Type may be at increased risk for arithmetic calculation deficits.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Neuropsychological Perspective Towards DSM-V

“…Socially, they are withdrawn or introverted and are less prone to initiate social interactions (Bauermeister et al, 2005). Some suggested that ADHD-PIA children are more likely to demonstrate math disorder (Marshall, Schafer, O'Donnell, Elliott, & Handwerk, 1999), but others report equal impairment across a number of different academic skills (Zentall & Ferkis, 1993). Several reports suggest that these children demonstrate right hemisphere implicating profiles on neuropsychological assessment (Landau, Auerbach, GrossTsur, & Shalev, 2003;Stefanatos & Wasserstein, 2001).…”

Contributors to the social goals and outcomes of students with ADHD with and without LD

“…The inattention that characterizes the combined and the inattentive subtypes of ADHD appears to be especially predictive of math calculation difficulties (Marshall, Hynd, Handwerk, & Hall, 1997;Marshall et al, 1999), even when controlling for IQ and slower motor responses (Zentall, 1990;Zentall & Smith, 1993;Zentall, Smith, Lee, & Wieczorek, 1994). There appears to be a continuum of difficulty, with students with LD and students with ADHD plus aggression demonstrating the most severe problems with timed addition facts, followed by pure ADHD groups and then by typical comparison students (MacLeod & Prior, 1996; for review see Zentall & Ferkis, 1993).…”

Assessment and Intervention: Promoting Successful Transitions for College Students with ADHD

“…Students who exhibit the primary inattentive subtype, who tend to be at increased risk for comorbid learning disorders (Marshall et al, 1997;Marshall, Schafer, O'Donnell, Elliott, & Handwerk, 1999), are at particular risk for problems in the functional areas of time management, initiation and self-assertion, maintenance of consistent arousal during the day, and development of sleep-wake at University of Bath -The Library on June 13, 2015 aei.sagepub.com Downloaded from cycles consistent with their class schedules. Students with the impulsive-hyperactive or combined types are at particular risk for behavioral excesses associated with poor selfregulation, with over-socialization or development of substance abuse among the most common patterns observed.…”