Desempenho de crianças e adolescentes com TDAH e dislexia no discurso narrativo oral e escrito

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Narrative discourse is a complex language skill that encompasses the interaction of a variety of cognitive functions, linguistic knowledge, personal experiences, and world knowledge. Such a skill develops from early childhood and matures over the years, so as to gain greater complexity. However, children and adolescents with ADHD and dyslexia may experience language changes and executive dysfunctions, which cause impairment in the narrative ability. In this way, this study seeks to investigate whether there are changes in oral and written narrative speech skills in children and adolescents with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and with Dyslexia and to compare if there are differences in the performance of the two groups in this ability. METHODS: Quantitative cross-sectional study, with descriptive and comparative purposes in which the performance of 14 participants from 8 to 17 years of age were analyzed, six of them diagnosed with ADHD and eight with Specific Learning Disorder with reading impairment (dyslexia), in oral and written narrative speech tasks, through the DNOI and DNEI tests. RESULTS: Both groups showed overall performance below the expected for the average age and type of school attended in oral and written narrative speech. However, those with dyslexia showed better performance, compared to those with ADHD. CONCLUSION: The study showed that children and adolescents in both groups showed changes in narrative ability. However, individuals with dyslexia performed better in the analysed tests compared to those with ADHD. Thus, having the knowledge that frames of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as those studied, present the possibility of manifesting changes in the narrative ability, is important, as it allows a targeted and more effective intervention for the patient.