A rapid systematic review of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and high order writing: Current findings and implications for intervention.
Students with ADHD struggle most with planning and editing rather than writing output volume—target these processes in intervention.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Stanley and colleagues looked at 18 studies about ADHD and high-order writing. High-order means planning, organizing, and editing, not just handwriting speed.
They pulled every paper that tested students with ADHD on writing tasks. The goal was to see which writing steps give these kids the most trouble.
What they found
Kids with ADHD write far worse when they have to plan and edit. Their actual word count is closer to peers, but the quality drops.
Planning and editing hurt them more than getting words on the page. If you only count words, you miss the real problem.
How this fits with other research
Lee et al. (2014) saw the same thing in Taiwan. They found 60% of kids with ADHD scored below the 25th percentile on writing tests. Stanley’s review now shows this is a world-wide pattern, not just a Chinese-character issue.
Cramm et al. (2009) showed strategy instruction helps kids with intellectual disability write better. Stanley’s team never tested an intervention, but their data hint that planning strategies like SRSD could help the ADHD group too.
Ciullo et al. (2021) proved SRSD boosts persuasive quick-writing for students with learning disabilities. Stanley’s findings say students with ADHD have the exact planning weakness SRSD targets, so the same tool kit may transfer.
Why it matters
Stop pushing students with ADHD to write more words. Start teaching them how to plan before they write and how to edit after. Use graphic organizers, short checklists, and think-aloud models. These supports attack the real deficit and can lift essay quality without extra medication.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Theoretical writing models and empirical studies have suggested a possible strong association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and high order writing (e.g., planning, text production, and revising). AIM: A rapid systematic review was conducted to examine this relationship with the aim of informing writing interventions specific to the ADHD population. METHOD: A systematic search for empirical studies on ADHD and high order writing performance from the last two decades identified 18 eligible studies. RESULTS: Most studies showed that, compared to their peers, students with ADHD have more significant difficulties in high order writing performance. Writing quality and writing process (e.g., planning and editing) were identified as a challenge for ADHD students and may be more challenging than writing productivity and meta-cognitive knowledge of writing. Individuals' inattention, short-term memory, working memory, executive functions, reading, oral language skills, and externalising behavioural problems were identified as significant predictors of high order writing performance. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The findings support theoretical writing models that propose writing as a complex process influenced by multiple cognitive factors, which are commonly impaired in individuals with ADHD. Interventions specific to the identified problems are discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2022 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104180