Brief experimental analysis of reading deficits for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
A 20-minute brief experimental analysis pinpoints the best reading intervention for each child with ADHD.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Six kids with ADHD sat one-on-one with a teacher. Each child tried seven quick reading lessons in one afternoon.
The team timed how many words the child read correctly per minute after each mini-lesson. They called this 20-minute process a brief experimental analysis, or BEA.
What they found
Every child had a different 'best' lesson. One child soared with repeated reading, another with a phonics game.
The BEA picked the top method for each kid in under half an hour. Later weeks showed the chosen method kept the gains.
How this fits with other research
Livingston et al. (2021) used the same rapid-test idea for problem behavior. Parents ran 5-minute trials to find the right kind of attention that worked as a reinforcer. Both studies show that quick within-subject tests save time later.
Zhao et al. (2025) looked at exercise for attention, not reading. Their meta-analysis found that cognitively engaging exercise boosts sustained attention in ADHD. Perez et al. (2015) adds that once attention is on task, a short BEA can match the child to the reading style that keeps it there.
LAller et al. (2023) are testing a long 18-month reading program for kids who use AAC. The BEA approach could speed up their work by screening options first instead of waiting months to see what works.
Why it matters
You can run a BEA during one lunch period. Bring three to five reading tricks you already know—repeated reading, listening passage preview, phrase drill, whatever you have. Let the student try each for three minutes and graph words correct per minute. Pick the winner and start the real program tomorrow. No guesswork, no long baselines, just data-driven choice that fits ADHD learners who lose steam fast.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Reading difficulties are especially high among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although there are a number of empirically supported reading interventions for children with ADHD, there is little data to guide the selection of the most efficacious reading intervention for a specific child. Brief experimental analysis (BEA) is a procedure that directly compares the efficacy of various academic interventions with the goal of guiding the selection of the intervention that results in optimal efficacy. The current proof of concept study examined the efficacy of the BEA methodology for determining the relative effectiveness of seven reading interventions for children with ADHD. The seven interventions included empirically supported ADHD interventions as well as traditional interventions found in the BEA literature. Six children diagnosed with ADHD completed the proof of concept study. Results indicated that the BEA successfully determined an efficacious intervention for each participant. The efficacy of the interventions and the optimal intervention based on BEA procedures varied for each child, suggesting the importance of a BEA approach when comparing various interventions for reading in children with ADHD. Implications and future directions for selecting effective reading interventions for children with ADHD are discussed.
Behavior modification, 2015 · doi:10.1177/0145445514550393