Executive function and reading impairments in children reported by their teachers as 'hyperactive'

Twenty-one 8- to 11-year-olds identified by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997) as 'Hyperactive' were compared with controls matched for gender, age, and non-verbal reasoning on a battery of cognitive tasks. Significant group differences were found on literacy measures, tasks of inhibition and executive function, but not verbal working memory measures. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that children with hyperactivity have difficulty in behavioural inhibition, and the previously reported high incidence of comorbidity between reading impairment and attention disorders. However, the data suggest that the core cognitive deficits in executive function that are associated with hyperactivity in children are independent of the phonological deficits associated with reading impairment.