ADHD & Reading: 11 Tips for Comprehension & Focus

Why Is Reading With ADHD a Challenge?

Reading can be a challenge when a person is living with ADHD and experiencing various symptoms of ADHD. According to research, distractibility is the main difficulty children with ADHD face when attempting to read, which interferes with their ability to comprehend and process what they are reading. This is different from children with reading disabilities who struggle with phonetic fluency.¹ These struggles with distractibility could be for a number of reasons and exist in children and adults with inattentive, hyperactive or combined type ADHD.

ADHD characteristics that may affect reading comprehension include:

• Inattention: The inability to pay attention makes it difficult to process and comprehend reading material.
• Poor working memory: Distractibility and inattention can make it difficult to encode information from the environment into working memory.
• Hyperactivity: Children and adults struggling to sit still will likely struggle to sit down and read a book from cover to cover.
• Poor focus: Inability to focus makes it difficult to engage in any task that requires sustained mental effort.
• High levels of distractibility: Being easily distracted can be a primary barrier to reading comprehension in children and adults with ADHD.

11 Tips For Improving Reading Comprehension With ADHD

If someone is living with ADHD and also struggling with reading comprehension, it may be helpful for them to explore various options and strategies for managing this difficulty. Often, it is ideal to have multiple tools in one’s toolbox for managing any mental health difficulty and imperative to remember there is no “magic wand” solution for any mental health problem.

Below are 11 tips for focusing and reading with ADHD:

1. Take Regular Breaks

Taking breaks is a useful strategy for people living with ADHD attempting to complete any task that is difficult for their brain to tackle. Sometimes even setting an alarm for breaks can be useful.

2. Reduce Distractions in Your Environment

Environmental distractions can cause major difficulties for people living with ADHD. Being mindful of settings when attempting to engage in an activity that requires focus can help improve success of engaging meaningfully in that task.

3. Opt for Printed Books

Printed media can be useful for people living with ADHD. Having something tactile to interact with might help reduce distractibility. There are also fewer distractions involved with printed books, while tablets and other devices offer the possibility of opening multiple windows and scrolling while attempting to read.

4. Take Notes

Taking notes is one helpful way to improve reading difficulties for people struggling with attention. This sometimes forces more engaged reading and prevents distractions from interfering with reading comprehension.

5. Body Doubling

Having a body double is one strategy that helps people living with ADHD conquer tasks that are difficult for them. For example, having a friend read with you can help to minimize distractibility while trying to read.

6. Read Aloud

Reading information out loud can help someone retain and encode the information they are attempting to read.

7. Follow Your Finger

Using a finger or highlighter to underline the words you are reading can also aid in more actively engaged reading.

8. Read What Interests You

Oftentimes, it is nearly impossible for people with ADHD to do any task that is not inherently rewarding to them. Only reading material that is interesting and rewarding can be one way to help children and adults who struggle with reading comprehension to engage more meaningfully in that task.

9. Summarize the Information

Summarizing information outloud or journaling and somehow writing down a synopsis of what was read may also be another way to help motivate someone with ADHD to engage more meaningfully with the material they are attempting to read.

10. Use Audiobooks

Some people with ADHD may have more difficulties with visual distractions and are more readily able to encode auditory information. Using audiobooks could be a way to help mitigate some of those difficulties for people living with ADHD who are especially prone to visual distraction and have a preference for processing auditory stimulation to visual.

11. Exercise

Physical activity can help improve inattentive symptoms in people with ADHD immediately preceding the mental activity and also over time.

When to Seek Help for ADHD & Reading

If difficulties with reading are presenting chronic problems for individuals living with ADHD, it may be helpful to consider seeking professional help. Working with a therapist on an individualized ADHD treatment plan may be helpful. There may also be resources for students in school to get accommodations for classes with heavy reading loads. It may also be helpful to talk with your employer about struggles with reading comprehension if this is interfering with your ability to be successful at work. Speech therapy can also be beneficial for individuals with ADHD who are struggling to read or communicate. Doing a focused online search to find reading tutors or speech therapists can be a useful first step.

Resources for learning how to read, focus, and concentrate with ADHD include:

• Tutors: Finding individual or group tutoring can be a helpful resource. This resource is generally easily available for students on college campuses.
• Behavioral training: Doing some focused behavioral training exercises can help improve performance on challenging tasks.
• Special education services: Speaking to the office which handles accommodations at school for people struggling with any disability or mental health concern is a useful resource.
• Individual treatment plan: Working with your therapist to develop a specified individual treatment plan to target problem areas in life can be a useful strategy.
• Speech therapy: Speaking with a professional speech therapist to get support with reading difficulties can be helpful.
• ADHD Testing: Going through formal ADHD testing can help shed light on the specific struggles an individual experiences around attention and hyperactivity, or for specific reading disorders commonly occurring with ADHD, which can then inform a treatment plan.

Where to Seek Professional Support for ADHD

It is a good idea to seek professional help for support around ADHD symptoms if they are causing chronic problems in important areas of life at work, at home and in relationships with others. Someone can find a neurodiverse affirming therapist through an online therapist directory or online therapy platform when searching for a therapist who specializes in ADHD treatment. If someone is considering medication for ADHD symptoms, an online psychiatrist option is a good choice for finding ADHD medication management.