Right. This one is for anyone whose kid has an ADHD diagnosis, or is sat on the waiting list for one, and still really struggles with reading and spelling.
It might not all be the ADHD.
That was the point of a Netmums piece over the weekend, written as Dyslexia Awareness Week (5 to 11 October) wrapped up in the middle of ADHD Awareness Month. The writer, a former teacher with kids of her own, asked a fair question. Where has dyslexia gone? When she started teaching, lots of the children with extra needs in her class were dyslexic. By the time she left, it was mostly ADHD and autism, and far fewer kids were being picked up as dyslexic.
I've sat in enough meetings about Leo's support to know how that happens. Once a child has one label, everyone relaxes a bit. Box ticked. Plan written. Next. Nobody's being lazy. But it does mean a second thing can sit there quietly for years.
Why one can hide the other
The British Dyslexia Association says around one in 10 people are believed to be dyslexic, and the charity thinks plenty of them have never been diagnosed. And the two conditions turn up together a lot. The BDA's own definition of dyslexia says it often comes alongside things like ADHD, and the NHS ADHD page says the same from the other side: people with ADHD often have other conditions too, including a learning difficulty such as dyslexia.
The specialist Netmums spoke to, Cherrida Crew from Evolve Psychology, said demand for dyslexia assessments is going up, but it's being dwarfed by the growth in ADHD awareness and SEN needs generally. Her worry was simple. If ADHD is seen as the answer, a stretched teacher or SENCO might not dig any further. She said research puts the overlap at somewhere between a quarter and 40% of cases, so if one is suspected, it's worth asking about the other.
The tricky bit is they can look the same from the outside. A kid who can't get through a page of their reading book might be distracted. Or they might be working so hard just to get the words off the page that there's nothing left for the meaning, so they drift off. Same picture at the kitchen table. Very different reasons.
Signs worth writing down
The NHS page on dyslexia in children lists signs including:
- reading at a level below what you'd expect for their age
- being slow and hesitant reading out loud
- messy written work with lots of spelling mistakes
- trouble with numbers, telling the time and remembering the order of things, like days of the week
- finding it hard to plan and organise schoolwork
The expert in the Netmums piece added a few that are easy to miss. A big gap between how well a child talks and how well they write. Getting lost when an instruction has several steps. Taking much longer than classmates to read or write. Getting unusually frustrated in literacy lessons. The NHS mentions the frustration too, saying some kids end up disruptive and others go quiet and withdrawn.
One thing she was clear on: reversing letters on its own doesn't prove anything. Loads of little ones do it. Don't lose sleep over a backwards b.
My old chef brain says make a prep list. Jot down what you actually see at homework time, with the date. Took 20 minutes for one page. Could tell me the whole story out loud but only wrote two lines. That kind of note is worth far more in a meeting than "he struggles a bit".
What parents are saying
I had a dig through the forums and the same stories keep coming round. Paraphrased, not quoted.
On a Netmums Coffeehouse thread, one mum said the educational psychologists in her area wouldn't test for dyslexia at all. The ed psych flagged ADHD traits instead and wouldn't see her daughter again until that was assessed, even though the mum and the teacher both thought she was dyslexic like her brother. Which is basically the whole Netmums article in one post.
On Mumsnet, the parent of a Year 9 lad asked whether school would put anything in place without a diagnosis. The replies were a proper mix. One said her son's school assessed him, found he wrote more on a laptop, and now he uses one in lessons because it's become his normal way of working. Another said they'd had years of meetings with nothing changing until a diagnosis got their son onto the SEN register with a key worker and a written plan. Someone else made the fair point that if support depended on a diagnosis, it would favour the families who can pay for a quick private one.
In a Mumsnet primary thread, a parent whose daughter screened as high risk for dyslexia said school were carrying on as normal while she waited on an ADHD referral. A reply said their school wouldn't even screen, and the SENCO just pointed them to the BDA's list of assessors.
And on Reddit's dyslexia forum there are dads who are dyslexic themselves, saying that teaching their own kid to read dragged up stuff from school they thought they'd put behind them. Which fits, as it happens. This year's awareness week was all about dyslexic adults at work.
What you can actually do
Quick note first. This is how it works in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own systems, so check what applies where you are.
Start with the SENCO. That's the NHS advice. The SENCO may suggest the GP, who can't diagnose dyslexia but can check things like hearing and may suggest an eye test.
Ask about a screener. Some schools use standard dyslexia screening tests. The BDA is clear that a screener can't give a diagnosis, only a full diagnostic assessment by a qualified assessor can. But a screener can get support moving.
You don't need a diagnosis to get help. IPSEA, the SEND legal advice charity, is blunt about this. Support in school should be based on the child's needs, not a letter. Things like extra time to process, shorter instructions, easier to read worksheets, text to speech, dictation, or ways to show what they know without writing it all out. Ask what's in place and get it written down. One Mumsnet tip worth stealing: look up your council's ordinarily available provision, which sets out what mainstream schools are expected to offer anyway.
The full assessment usually costs. The NHS says most people have to pay. The BDA can arrange one or point you to assessors. Before you spend the money, ask the school how they'd use the report, so it doesn't just sit in a drawer.
Keep the ADHD support going while you wait. The NHS says ADHD waits can run to months or years, and support at home and school should carry on in the meantime. In England you may be able to use Right to Choose through your GP to find a shorter list.
If school support isn't enough, you can ask the council for an EHC needs assessment yourself. IPSEA says you don't need a diagnosis and the school doesn't have to agree. There's a lot of noise about SEND reform at the moment, but the white paper changes still need new law, and the government says there'll be no changes to the support in existing EHCPs before September 2030. For now the current rules apply.
Think ahead to exams. Extra time and laptops in GCSEs are decided by the school under the exam boards' rules, and they need evidence built up over time. If your kid's in secondary, ask the SENCO early rather than in Year 11.
At home
The Netmums expert's tips were refreshingly low key. Pick easier books for a while to take the pressure off. Try paired reading, where you do most of the reading to start and hand over bit by bit. And swap asking why they can't do it for asking what would make it easier. The NHS adds the confidence stuff, like finding things they enjoy and keeping them active.
None of it needs a diagnosis. You can start tonight.
I'm still learning this stuff, honestly. But one thing I'm sure of is that two things can be true at once. If something doesn't add up, ask. Then ask again, in writing.
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