“We suspect that our son has ADHD. But he’s thriving in school and does not have any signs of academic challenges, so the school refuses to address it. Do academic issues typically occur that early in a child’s schooling? Do I have to wait until they’re struggling before I can get them help?”
We live in a world now where people are more aware that ADHD exists, and there are more resources now to address it. Yet, even with this awareness and these resources, many places will not allow a child to access the resources unless there are signs that a child truly needs it.
As a parent to a child with ADHD, it can be stressful to have to wait for your young one to struggle before you can get them this type of help. Children with ADHD often experience academic difficulties, but the timing and visibility of these challenges can vary. While some signs may be present as early as preschool, the impact on academic performance tends to become more pronounced as children advance through school and face increasing cognitive, behavioral, and organizational demands.
Does this mean that you have to wait?
The answer may depend on your school and your child.
Early Signs in Preschool and Kindergarten
In structured early education settings, some children with ADHD may already begin to show signs of struggle – though these may not always be interpreted as academic in nature. At this age, issues tend to revolve around behavior, attention, and classroom readiness rather than grades or test performance.
In early childhood, you may see:
- Difficulty sitting still or following routines
- Frequent interruptions or impulsive behavior
- Trouble with listening, remembering instructions, or completing multi-step tasks
It can be challenging, however, to tell the difference between a child having ADHD and a child just being a child. Lots of young kids struggle with listening and remembering instructions, for example, and there may be many reasons for these difficulties that are not related to ADHD.
In that sense, even if you suspect your child may have ADHD, there is some reason to wait. If a child is doing fine academically, then what looks like ADHD may be something else. That’s one reason some educational institutions prefer to wait.
That said, early diagnosis is also possible. Typically, at this age, if you strongly suspect your child has ADHD, there are way you can get it diagnosed (for example, Qb Testing), and if you get it diagnosed, it may be easier to advocate for yourself in a classroom setting. Usually, at this age, it is behavioral concerns that end up warranting intervention, not academic ones, and not all students with ADHD will have behavioral concerns.
Academic Challenges Often Begin in Early Elementary School
For many children with ADHD, academic problems become more noticeable between 1st and 3rd grade. This is the period when schools expect students to maintain sustained attention, manage their own materials, and begin to develop foundational academic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics.
At this stage, ADHD-related challenges may include:
- Incomplete assignments or failure to follow through on directions
- Difficulty organizing thoughts for writing or solving multi-step problems
- Reading comprehension struggles due to lapses in focus
- Poor test performance that does not reflect the child’s verbal intelligence
- Slower academic progress compared to peers, especially in subjects requiring sustained mental effort
These problems can emerge gradually, and may be interpreted as a lack of motivation or effort, rather than a cognitive difference in how the child processes and organizes information. Once again, however, individual children may differ. ADHD does not guarantee academic delays, because ADHD is not directly linked to intelligence. Many children with ADHD may still be thriving in subjects like math, for example, because there are starting at a higher baseline and math is still something they can do in their heads. In these situations, issues may still take a while to arise.
Worsening Challenges in Upper Grades Without Support
As children move into late elementary school and beyond, academic expectations increase. Without targeted intervention, children with ADHD may face growing gaps in achievement and self-confidence. The organizational and executive function demands become heavier, and difficulties with time management, planning, and sustained mental effort tend to become more problematic.
By middle school and high school, common challenges include:
- Chronic late or missing assignments
- Poor performance on long-term projects
- Avoidance of tasks perceived as boring or difficult
- Increasing emotional frustration with schoolwork
- Declining grades, especially in unstructured or writing-heavy subjects
These difficulties are not necessarily a reflection of academic ability. Many children with ADHD have average or above-average intelligence, but struggle to demonstrate their knowledge due to impairments in executive function. It is this age group where academic issues are most likely to arise if the ADHD has gone untreated and undiagnosed.
However, most students have been diagnosed by now. The average age for diagnosis is between 7 and 12 years old, and so by the time a child reaches this age group, while academic issues may be more pronounced, diagnosis is also far more common which means that it’s easier to access resources.
Why Early Identification Matters
While academic problems in children with ADHD can surface at any age, they tend to follow a predictable trajectory that becomes more noticeable as cognitive demands increase.
If you’re specifically looking for academic issues to occur, however, you may find that you’ll be waiting a while. Many children will still have academic success as long as the executive function demands are low. But there may still be *signs* of academic difficulty along the way, even if the child is completing work at a high level.
As a parent, we know you have questions, which is why our parent coaching service is designed to help. Reach out today to learn more and get the support you need for your child.