Cognitive-linguistic and reading performance of students Journal of Human Growth and Development 2011; 21(3): 849-858 – 849 - PERFORMANCE COGNITIVE-LINGUISTIC AND READING OF STUDENTS WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT AND HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER Cláudia da Silva 1 , Vera Lúcia Orlandi Cunha 2 , Simone Aparecida Capellini 3 1 Doutoranda do Programa de Pós Graduação em Educação da Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências da Universidade Estadual Paulista – FFC/UNESP-Marília – SP / Brasil. 2 Doutoranda do Programa de Pós Graduação em Educação da Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências da Universidade Estadual Paulista – FFC/UNESP-Marília – SP / Brasil. 3 Livre Docente em Linguagem Escrita - Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências da Universidade Estadual Paulista – FFC/ UNESP-Marília – SP / Brasil. Docente do Departamento de Fonoaudiologia e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação da Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências da Universidade Estadual Paulista – FFC/UNESP-Marília – SP / Brasil. Trabalho realizado no Centro de Estudos da Educação e Saúde – CEES/UNESP –Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências da Universidade Estadual Paulista – Marília SP. Correspondence to: claudiasilvafono@yahoo.com.br Apoio: CNPq Suggested citation: Silva C, Cunha VLO, Capellini SA. Performance cognitive-linguistic and reading of students with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of Human Growth and Development 2011; 21(3): 849-858.2011; 21(3): 841-848. Manuscript submitted mar 05 2011, accepted for publication Sep 20 2011. Journal of Human Growth and Development 2011; 21(3): 849-858 _________________________________________________________ ORIGINAL RESEARCH ABSRTRACT Objective: the aim of this study was to compare the cognitive-linguistic skills performance and reading of students with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and students without behavioral and/or learning disorders. Methods: the study included 20 students from 5 th to 8 th grade of elementary school. The students were divided into: Group I (GI): composed by 10 students with an interdisciplinary diagnosis of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, and Group II (GII): composed by 10 students without complaints of behavioral and/or learning disorders. The tests of metalinguistic skills and reading (PROHMELE) were used as procedure, composed of syllabic and phonemic identification, syllabic and phonemic manipulation, repetition of nonwords and reading tests. Results: the results showed statistically significant differences between GI and GII, demonstrating that students from GI presented superior performances when compared to the students from GII. Conclusion: according to the findings of this study we can conclude that the difficulties presented by students with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder can be attributed to inattention, hyperactivity and disorganization, characteristic of this diagnosis, and not to a disorder of language of phonological basis. Key words: learning; attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder; reading.