Writing Challenges in Students with ADHD: Underlying Causes and How to Overcome Them

Writing is essential for sharing ideas, communicating, and learning. However, students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often experience difficulties with simple writing. Despite having ideas and thoughts to share, children with ADHD find transferring them into coherent writing extremely challenging. Understanding the reasons for these challenges and creating intervention programs to work through these issues is crucial to helping children with ADHD grow, evolve and learn.

Support for writing challenges should be available at school and at home. However, many parents often struggle to understand why these challenges happen and how to build supportive systems to overcome them.

In this blog, we discuss the causes of ADHD reading challenges and how to overcome them with practical interventions.

Reasons for Writing Struggles in Students with ADHD

Almost all children with ADHD have challenges writing, and there is no one clear explanation for it. As writing is a skill that requires multiple capabilities, there exist numerous reasons why children experience difficulties with the task.

However, the following are some of the most common reasons for children with ADHD to have writing challenges:

1. Difficulty in Maintaining Attention

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often manifests as inattentiveness, which presents a substantial obstacle for the students in the writing process.

Students may need help focusing on writing tasks, resulting in incomplete or disorganized work.

The implementation of focused writing sessions and periodic breaks can enhance sustained attention.

2. Lack of Control of Impulsiveness

Impulsivity poses a distinct challenge during writing activities for a student with ADHD. Quick, unplanned decisions can disrupt the planning and organization required for practical written expression.

Introducing pre-writing exercises and encouraging self-monitoring can help manage impulsive tendencies.

3. Presence of Hyperactivity Challenges

The hyperactivity component of ADHD introduces an additional layer of complexity to writing challenges. Excessive energy levels can lower the concentration of the students and disrupt their writing flow.

To address this challenge, channel this energy via movement breaks or engage the students in physical activities before writing sessions.

4. Help Required in Organizing Thoughts

Students with ADHD often struggle with organizing their thoughts cohesively in their writing. This challenge may manifest as disjointed narratives or difficulties in structuring essays.

Several practical challenges can help. Try graphic organizers and outlining techniques to encourage better writing.

Another effective strategy is encouraging students to verbalize their ideas before putting them on paper.

5. Poor Time Management

Poor time management is a prevalent difficulty for students with ADHD during writing tasks. Challenges such as procrastination and inaccurate estimation of task durations can impact the timely completion of assignments.

Implementing structured writing schedules, breaking tasks into manageable segments, etc., can improve the time management skills of students with ADHD.

6. Weakened Focus and Concentration

Students with ADHD have trouble focusing and maintaining concentration, significantly impacting the quality of written work for students with ADHD.

Distractions may lead to incomplete or poorly developed assignments. These instances may lead to further learning challenges.

Practise mindfulness techniques, providing a quiet writing environment, etc., to the students to enhance concentration.

How Students with ADHD Can Overcome Writing Difficulties

Using the right strategies and intervention methods can help children overcome writing difficulties associated with ADHD. Help from teachers and other family members is also required.

Strategies and Interventions to Use in the Classroom

Classrooms must be the first and most important place for students with ADHD to learn writing. The strategies used in the classroom or tutoring learning centers can profoundly influence how well children can improve their writing skills.

Let’s discuss some strategies to adopt in the classroom.

1. Set Up a Note System

Encouraging students with ADHD to take notes on individual sticky notes is a practical method to help them better the writing process.

Sticky notes allow students to jot down ideas quickly without feeling overwhelmed. Once some notes are collected, the next step involves grouping similar ideas.

This approach helps children identify major concepts and form the foundation for organized and cohesive writing.

2. Encourage the Children to Start Small in Building Skills

Recognizing the varying skill levels of students with ADHD is crucial. Help them with smaller writing tasks to avoid overwhelming them.

Work with them to assist in tasks like composing a paragraph consisting of only two or three sentences. As their skills progress, gradually increase the complexity of assignments.

Tailoring tasks to individual abilities ensures a supportive environment for skill development.

3. Explain the Concept of Essay Writing

Visual learning is often effective for students with ADHD. Explain the writing process and what preliminary works go into writing an effective essay or write-up. Try using an overhead projector to explain the concept. Teachers in schools or tutoring learning centers can write a paragraph or an entire essay explaining each step in front of the class. Encourage the students to be actively involved, allowing them to contribute sentences as the teacher progresses.

This collaborative approach helps students grasp the intricacies of essay writing through visual representation.

4. Provide Writing Prompts

Students with ADHD may struggle to generate essay ideas independently. Often, this is one of their biggest challenges.

To address this issue, provide diverse materials, from poems and stories to visual stimuli like magazines, books, etc. These prompts stimulate creativity and offer a starting point for writing assignments.

Some students will still need help. In such cases, support them with one-on-one discussions about the assignment.

5. Explain the Editing Process

Students with ADHD may face challenges in writing to length, often producing essays that are too brief and lack detail.

As a teacher, address this issue by explaining how adjectives and adverbs can enhance composition.

Try introducing a thesaurus to help empower the students to experiment with new words and improve the richness of their writing. Remember, this process will take time.

6. Provide Ample Time

Students with ADHD, particularly those with the inattentive subtype, may require additional time to process information and complete assignments.

Recognizing this need, teachers should provide extended time for tasks. This accommodation reduces the pressure on students and ensures that their abilities are well reflected in their work.

It is not a good idea to rush them through their assignments or give them tight deadlines to complete their work.

7. Restrain From Grading Their Early Work

Early drafts of assignments may not showcase the full potential of students with ADHD. Grading these initial attempts prematurely can discourage them, hindering the development of their writing skills.

The best course of action for teachers is to wait until the final paper is complete before assigning a grade. This approach acknowledges the ongoing growth and progress of students.

Students will likely work harder next time when they feel appreciated for their hard work.

8. Avoid Deducting Points for Handwriting or Bad Grammar

Prioritize content over technicalities. Unless the assignment explicitly assesses handwriting or grammar skills, of course.

Students with ADHD may face challenges in the technical aspects of writing, like spelling, grammar, etc. Therefore, penalizing them for issues unrelated to the assignment’s focus can be demotivating.

Ensure that there is room for some flexibility. This will help create a supportive atmosphere that values the effort and creativity of the students.

9. Grade Only Some Essay Elements

To prevent overwhelming students, especially those with ADHD, focus on grading specific elements of an essay at any given time.

For instance, a teacher might choose to assess subject-verb agreement in sentences for a particular week. This grading approach channels the students’ attention to one or two writing concepts.

Working with this approach over a period with different concepts can promote a deeper understanding of each element.

Strategies and Interventions to Use at Home

Supporting the writing development of a child with ADHD extends beyond the classroom. Parents play a crucial role in creating a conducive environment at home and fostering a love for writing.

Here are a few strategies for parents to implement at home:

1. Encourage Keeping a Journal

Promote the idea of keeping a journal. Ask children to write about their thoughts and experiences, such as outings, visits, or trips. Add a fun twist by asking them to email or text these thoughts. Journaling improves writing skills and allows one to express personal ideas, thoughts, etc. Children with ADHD may need some help in getting started, but this pastime may help boost confidence in their writing skills.

2. Help with Topic Selection

Children with ADHD often struggle with decision-making. Assist the child by listening to their ideas and writing down three or four potential topics on cards. Make it a collaborative process. Review and eliminate topics individually to help the child identify the most compelling and manageable subject, making the entire task easier and encouraging the kids to work on it.

3. Help with Brainstorming

Once the topic is selected, provide help and guidance in the brainstorming session. Ask for all the ideas that might be related to the chosen topic. Remember to act only as an aid; avoid providing all the answers.

Children can write their ideas on sticky notes, allowing them to cluster them into groups that later form paragraphs. This visual approach aids in organizing thoughts and preparing for the writing process.

4. Offer Books, Movies and Games

Introducing children to different writings is an effective way to familiarize them with writing in general. Try various materials in your child’s routine, including books, movies, and games.

These materials will expose them to new vocabulary and stimulate creative thinking. Discuss these materials and ask them their views and perspectives on the stories.

Be sure to choose age-appropriate and straightforward materials for them to understand.

5. Be Their Scribe

In the initial stages of writing, act as the child’s scribe. Allow them to dictate their thoughts, but help transcribe them by hand or type them into the computer.

Gradually reduce your involvement as their writing skills improve, empowering them to take on more of the writing process independently.

6. Explain Proofreading

Instill the habit of proofreading. Help children understand that reviewing a rough draft before submission allows them to catch errors and refine their work.

This self-editing process encourages a sense of responsibility and ownership over their writing.

Proofreading also helps to better understand that mistakes can happen and be rectified before final submission.

Use Technology to Help Kids with ADHD

There are many innovative tools and resources to support children with ADHD in writing better. These high-tech solutions enhance the writing experience and make it more enjoyable.

Here are some high-tech writing helpers to try:

1. Portable Word Processors

These battery-operated devices resemble a computer keyboard with a small calculator screen. They are lightweight and durable. These devices are excellent tools for note-taking and writing assignments in the classroom.

Speech-recognition Software Tools

Speech-to-text software helps students dictate their thoughts into a microphone to have words appear on a computer screen. These software solutions provide an alternative and effective means of translating ideas into written form.

1. Word-prediction Software Tools

Many word-prediction software tools offer students a drop-down list of words to choose from. This process simplifies the writing task for students with ADHD.

2. Electronic Dictionaries and Spell-check

Portable electronic devices designed for spelling assistance are beneficial for students with ADHD. There are some models with audio capabilities. These gadgets define words and provide correct spellings.

Writing is an integral part of everyone’s learning journey. More than just a skill, it is essential for children to develop their understanding of languages, form ideas, express these ideas, and organize them. As children with ADHD have trouble organizing and expressing their ideas, writing is challenging. However, their writing skills can improve drastically through suitable interventions in schools, tutoring learning centers, and at home.

Strategic Learning Clinic has been at the forefront of helping students with ADHD and improving their writing skills. With trained experts and professionals, the clinic formulates personalized intervention programs for students to meet their unique learning needs.