Spelling errors among children with ADHD symptoms: the role of working memory.
Children with ADHD symptoms make more spelling errors, especially phonological ones, and these errors worsen when phonological working memory is overloaded.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked 8- to 11-year-olds to spell words while also remembering short lists of numbers.
Some kids had ADHD symptoms. Some were typical spellers. Everyone wrote words alone and then words plus numbers.
The extra number task loads the brain’s sound memory loop—the part we use to hold letters in mind while writing.
What they found
Kids with ADHD symptoms made more spelling mistakes than peers in every round.
When the number load was added, their errors jumped even higher.
Typical spellers stayed steady; the load barely hurt them.
How this fits with other research
Reed et al. (2005) saw the same pattern in adults: extra tasks made people focus on only one cue.
Capio et al. (2013) looks like a contradiction—they found low working-memory kids still learned math fine. The difference: M gave small-group lessons without extra memory demands, while Maria added load during the task itself.
Xenitidis et al. (2010) shows a fix: split long tasks into 20-second bursts. Shorter chunks may shield kids with ADHD from the load effect Maria found.
Why it matters
If you make a student with ADHD hold digits, repeat a sentence, or watch a timer while writing, you may crash their spelling. Drop the extras or break the work into tiny, timed bits. Start your next session by testing spelling alone, then add one memory demand at a time and watch the error line—when it climbs, you know the load is too high.
Does ADHD Affect Spelling?
Yes. Children with ADHD often show more spelling errors than peers, and the difficulty is linked to phonological working memory, the system that holds sound information while writing.
When that system is taxed, spelling accuracy drops, so spelling problems in ADHD are partly a working-memory issue, not just carelessness.
Study Findings
Nineteen children with ADHD symptoms and matched typically developing children completed two dictation tasks: one under normal conditions and one under a pre-load that required remembering digits while writing.
The ADHD group produced a higher percentage of errors overall, especially phonological errors, and errors increased under the working-memory load.
Practical implications: reduce memory load during writing, teach phonics explicitly, and allow supports that offload spelling demands.
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Run a 2-minute spelling probe with no extra tasks; count errors, then repeat while the child recalls three numbers—compare the drop and adjust future formats.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Research has shown that children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may present a series of academic difficulties, including spelling errors. Given that correct spelling is supported by the phonological component of working memory (PWM), the present study examined whether or not the spelling difficulties of children with ADHD are emphasized when children's PWM is overloaded. A group of 19 children with ADHD symptoms (between 8 and 11 years of age), and a group of typically developing children matched for age, schooling, gender, rated intellectual abilities, and socioeconomic status, were administered two dictation texts: one under typical conditions and one under a pre-load condition that required the participants to remember a series of digits while writing. The results confirmed that children with ADHD symptoms have spelling difficulties, produce a higher percentages of errors compared to the control group children, and that these difficulties are enhanced under a higher load of PWM. An analysis of errors showed that this holds true, especially for phonological errors. The increased errors in the PWM condition was not due to a tradeoff between working memory and writing, as children with ADHD also performed more poorly in the PWM task. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2014 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.05.010