Spelling Struggles With an ADHD Child

Do you have a child that has ADHD and struggles with spelling? I have one of those, too. Did you know that is a common side effect of ADHD? I didn’t realize this until my son was in his older grades in school. It would have been so nice and saved me so many hours if I had known this when he was in elementary school.

When my son was in elementary school, he had weekly spelling tests. The teacher would send home the words for the week on Monday, and we would practice them until his test on Friday. On Monday, I would have him go over his words with me. I would make sure he could read them and then have him write them down.

For the rest of the week, I would take a practice spelling test to see which words he could spell and which words he needed to work on. He always had words that he needed to work on. I would go over the words he needed help with, and then I would have him write them down three times. I felt that as the week went on, he would or should be able to improve on the practice spelling test. This, however, did not happen.

He would either get the same words wrong every day, or he would get words that he spelled right at the beginning of the week and then start spelling them wrong. We would talk about a word over and over again. I would have him write it down so many times. He could spell a word he got wrong, but if you asked him the next day, he couldn’t remember how to spell it. I could have him write it down a hundred times (I never actually did this), and he would still get it wrong.

At that time, it was the most frustrating thing in the world. We went over it so many times. Why can you not remember how to spell it? I would get so frustrated at him. I would ask him why he couldn’t remember how to spell that word. We went over it so many times. His response always was, “I don’t know.” I sometimes would get so frustrated that I had to have my husband help him with it.

My son was my firstborn, so I was a first-time young mother. Like most parents, I wanted my child to succeed at school. We would go over the words many times, and I would try many different strategies. Some worked and some didn’t. I will share those strategies that helped a little below.

Here is what was very strange to me. I would bring it up to his teacher every year, asking what I could do to help him with his spelling. Every teacher told me not to worry about it because we have spell checkers nowadays and have him do his best. Of course, I didn’t like this response, so I would continue pushing him to improve his spelling. I thought he would improve if we just kept working on it. This, however, did not happen. He never really got any better at spelling.

I found out years later that spelling is incredibly hard for children with ADHD. When I found this out, I felt horrible. All the time, energy, and frustration were wasted on both ends. If I had known this earlier, I would not have worried about it so much. I wouldn’t have made my son practice spelling so much or had him write his words down so much.

My son is now 17 years old. He can spell better than he used to, but he still has difficulty spelling, which is okay. This is just one of the challenges he has had in his life, and he has to work with it. He is still a great student despite not being able to spell well. He is incredibly smart and has such big goals for his future. If I had known how great he would have turned out, his younger school years would have been so different.

So I hope that this article helps some of you younger mothers or fathers. If your child struggles with spelling, they can and will still be great students. Please give them a little slack on their spelling.

Here are some ideas on how to make spelling a little more interesting for them and you!

• Practice on a small whiteboard with different color markers.
• Get a small tray, put some sugar or sand in it, and have them practice spelling the words with their finger.
• Get some window markers that they can use to write on a window or a mirror.
• Bath crayons are a fun option that they can use to write on the side of the tub.
• You can use anything with letters, such as blocks or magnets.

I hope that some of these ideas help your child with their spelling.

Do any of you have a child struggling with spelling? I would love to hear from you. What ideas do you have for helping your child with spelling? Please share your ideas!