By Christa Payton, Owner Focus Speech Therapy, St. Louis

If your child has ADHD and struggles with reading, you may be wondering: Is ADHD making reading harder? And if so, what kind of support does my child need?

The answer is complicated. Reading difficulties can have many different causes, and ADHD is not a reading disorder in itself. However, the executive functioning skills that can be impacted by ADHD—such as working memory, attention, processing speed, and motivation—can make learning to read and completing reading tasks more challenging.

For some children, this might look like difficulty remembering letter sounds when learning to read. For others, it may look like losing their place while reading, struggling to remember what they just read, avoiding books, or becoming overwhelmed by longer assignments.

And when reading repeatedly feels hard, the impact can go beyond academics. Children may begin to feel frustrated, embarrassed, anxious, or discouraged about reading and their skills. Supporting a child with reading difficulties may involve more than literacy instruction alone. Speech-language therapy can help address underlying language and literacy skills, while play therapy can provide children with a supportive space to work through frustration, build confidence, and develop a more positive relationship with themselves as learners.

Research suggests that 25–50% of children with ADHD also experience difficulties with literacy, and dyslexia frequently co-occurs with ADHD. Understanding how ADHD can affect reading can help parents identify what their child may need—and find support that addresses their whole self.

How ADHD Can Affect Reading

Working Memory

Working memory is our ability to hold information in our minds while we use it. For a beginning reader, this might mean remembering a letter's sound while blending it with other sounds to read a word. For an older child, working memory can affect reading comprehension—such as remembering information from the beginning of a passage while answering questions at the end.

Processing Speed

Some children with ADHD need more time to complete reading and writing tasks. A child may understand what they are reading but take longer to read the passage, find information in the text, or organize a written response. As assignments become longer and more complex, this extra time can add up quickly.

Attention

Reading requires sustained attention, especially when a text is lengthy, unfamiliar, or not particularly interesting to your child. A child may read a paragraph successfully but realize afterward that they don't remember what they just read because their attention wandered.

Motivation

This one is especially important.

Kids are often very aware of the things that feel difficult for them. If your child has experienced repeated frustration with reading, they may begin to avoid it altogether. What looks like "I don't want to read" may actually be "Reading feels really hard, and I don't want to feel unsuccessful again."

Finding ways to make reading manageable, engaging, and successful can help rebuild confidence.

How Can I Help My Child With ADHD Read?

The goal isn't to make your child sit and read for longer. The goal is to help them experience success with reading.

Here are a few ways to get started:

Keep Reading Short

Depending on your child's age and reading stamina, they may only be able to sustain focused reading for 10–15 minutes at a time.

A short, successful reading session is often more productive than a long session that ends in frustration. You can gradually increase the amount of time as your child's stamina grows.

Appeal to Their Interests

Let your child's interests guide your book choices. Graphic novels, joke books, nonfiction books, magazines, all count as reading. Graphic novels can be particularly appealing because they pair visuals with shorter amounts of text.

Incorporate Movement

Some children with ADHD focus better when movement is part of the learning process.

Try practicing letter sounds while jumping, spelling words with sidewalk chalk–having your child "wash away" letters with a wet sponge or spray bottle as they identify the corresponding sounds.

TheFlorida Center for Reading Research also offers free literacy activities that can be adapted for young learners.

Celebrate Small Wins

Don't wait until your child finishes an entire book to celebrate their progress.

Track the number of pages they read, minutes they spent reading, or books they completed. Look for small, achievable benchmarks and celebrate them along the way.

How Can Play Therapy Support a Child with ADHD or Reading Struggles?

Reading difficulties can sometimes affect how a child feels about themselves. A child who frequently hears that they’re behind, needs extra help, or struggles to complete the same assignments as their peers may begin to see themselves as someone who can’t read or isn’t good at school.

Play therapy doesn’t replace reading instruction or literacy intervention, but it can support the emotional side of these experiences. Through play, children can work through frustration, practice coping with challenges, express feelings they may not have the words to explain, and build confidence in a space where they don’t have to worry about getting the “right” answer.

For children whose reading struggles are contributing to anxiety, avoidance, low self-esteem, or frustration, play therapy at Bud to Bloom Play Therapy in St. Louis can be one part of a larger support system.

The goal isn’t to make a child feel like they need to “fix” themselves before they can succeed at reading. Instead, therapy can give them a place to understand and process their experiences while the adults around them work to make learning more accessible and supportive.

What If My Child Needs Extra Help With Reading?

You can request a comprehensive evaluation through your child's school. Depending on the results and your child's needs, they may qualify for specialized instruction through an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Some children may qualify for a 504 Plan, which can provide accommodations to help them access instruction. Accommodations might include extended time, breaks, preferential seating, or other supports based on the child's individual needs.

You can also seek an evaluation through a private clinician, such as a St. Louis speech-language pathologist. A private evaluation can provide a more individualized look at your child's language and literacy skills and may help identify areas that are making reading difficult.

Closing Thoughts: ADHD and Reading

Reading can be difficult for children with ADHD—but difficulty doesn't mean your child isn't capable of becoming a strong reader.

Sometimes, they need reading instruction that accounts for how they learn best. Sometimes, they need additional support with language or foundational literacy skills. And sometimes, children need strategies that make it easier to focus, organize information, and stick with a challenging task.

They may also need support with everything that comes with struggling to read: frustration, anxiety, avoidance, or a growing belief that they aren’t capable.

When we look at the whole child—not just their reading level or their diagnosis—we can better understand what they need to feel successful. For some children, that might mean literacy support from a speech-language therapist like me. For others, it might include play therapy or another form of emotional support. And for many children, the most helpful approach may be a combination of both.

Why Is Reading Hard for My Child With ADHD?