Dyslexia and ADHD together: how to adapt materials when they co-occur
There's a very specific moment when many families take a deep breath and think "okay, now I get it": the day they discover their child has dyslexia and ADHD at the same time. It's not one or the other, it's the two combined. And then comes the next frustration, almost immediately: all the material they find online seems designed for just one of the two difficulties, never for both together.
What this guide covers
How many children have dyslexia and ADHD together
The first thing worth knowing is that this combination is neither rare nor exceptional: it's quite a lot more common than it looks at first glance. According to data collected by the CADAH Foundation, roughly 33% of children with dyslexia also have ADHD. Looked at from the other side, in samples of children with ADHD, dyslexia or another specific learning difficulty is detected in between 25% and 50% of cases.
Put another way: if your child has dyslexia, there's more than a one-in-three chance that sustained attention is also hard for them. And if they have ADHD, there's a far-from-negligible probability that reading and writing demand extra effort that isn't always spotted straight away. Knowing this helps you shake off the feeling of "we're an odd case" and understand that materials and supports should also be designed for this combination, not just for each difficulty on its own.
Why generic material fails in these cases
The problem isn't that there's a lack of material for dyslexia or material for ADHD — there's plenty of that, more and more all the time. The problem is that they're almost never designed to coexist in the same child at the same time. Each one solves its own difficulty well, but without meaning to, it complicates the other.
A literacy worksheet well designed for dyslexia usually has progressive texts, spaced repetition of syllable patterns and exercises that run over several lines or several pages to consolidate the learning. That's exactly what a child with dyslexia needs. But if that same child also has ADHD, sustaining attention throughout that whole worksheet can be, quite simply, too much: motivation drops long before the end, and what was meant to be reinforcement turns into another source of frustration.
The reverse happens in much the same way. An attention worksheet designed only for ADHD can be full of instructions in dense paragraphs, with a small or tightly spaced typeface, taking for granted that "reading the instructions" isn't an obstacle. For a child with dyslexia, that same set of instructions is already the first barrier, before they've even started the attention exercise itself.
The result is that many families end up with two separate piles of worksheets, each solving only half the problem, and with the feeling that "something doesn't fit" even though each worksheet is well made on its own.
How to adapt the material when they co-occur
The good news is that adapting material for this combination doesn't mean inventing something completely new: it means applying the criteria of both difficulties at the same time, without either one cancelling out the other. The difference between material designed for a single difficulty and one designed for both at once is usually noticeable right away:
📄 Material designed for a single difficulty
- Long exercises, ideal for consolidating reading but hard to sustain with ADHD
- Instructions in dense text, with no visual support
- No breaks planned within the worksheet
- Standard typeface, not always comfortable for dyslexia
- Solves one difficulty well, complicates the other
🧩 Material designed for both at once
- Shorter sessions, with a clear and achievable ending
- Clear typeface such as Atkinson Hyperlegible, designed for reading
- Simple visual instructions, supported by an icon or image
- Breaks built into the workbook itself
- Adjusted to both difficulties without either being left in the background
None of this is magic, nor does it require expensive special materials: it's, above all, a change of approach. It's about asking yourself, worksheet by worksheet, "does this work just as well for attention as it does for reading?" before handing it to the child.
Practical tips for home and clinic
- Sessions of 10 to 15 minutes, no more. It's better to do two short sessions a day than one long one that ends in an argument. The aim is for the session to finish before attention runs out, not the other way round.
- One single instruction visible at a time. If the worksheet asks to "read the text, underline the words with 'll' and then circle the verbs", split the task and show one step at a time. Fewer simultaneous instructions, less load to hold on to.
- Celebrate their own progress, not the comparison. What matters isn't whether they finished "like the other children in the class", but whether today they lasted a little longer than last week, or made fewer reading mistakes than the time before.
- Coordinate with the school. Sharing with the teacher or tutor what kind of adjustments work at home (short sessions, visual support, breaks) helps keep the same approach in the classroom too, instead of the child getting different messages depending on the setting.
An idea that helps ease the pressure: each session doesn't have to "close off" both difficulties perfectly at once. It's enough for the material not to put extra obstacles in the way of either, and for the child to finish with the feeling of having managed the task.
This is precisely the kind of situation where it makes the most sense to personalize the material according to the exact combination of difficulties, and not just according to one of them. At Zubibook you can generate a workbook that combines dyslexia and ADHD within the same document, adjusting the typeface, the length of the worksheets and the visual support of the instructions all at once, instead of having to mix by hand materials designed separately.
This article offers general information and support activities. Zubibook is not a healthcare provider or an accredited educational institution: it does not replace the diagnosis or follow-up of a professional. If you have any doubt about a child's development, consult a specialist.
Remember: these exercises are for general support and reinforcement. They do not replace the assessment of a healthcare or educational professional, who is the one who can guide the specific case of your child or pupil.
Next step
If at home or in clinic you live with dyslexia and ADHD together, there's no need to keep mixing worksheets from different places. At Zubibook you can generate a workbook that takes both difficulties into account from the very first exercise, adjusted to the family's real age and language, ready to print in minutes.
Create a combined workbook tailored to your child
Choose age, difficulties and language and generate a print-ready PDF activity workbook that combines dyslexia and ADHD in minutes.