Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD)
Learn about the symptoms and causes of ADD/ADHD, why so many with ADD are struggling readers, and what you can do to help.
Recognize the signs your child might be struggling
Learn about the root causes and lead to reading difficulties
A guide to visual processing and why it matters
How BrightWay Kids improves reading mastery
Attention Deficit Disorder symptoms
The signs of eye tracking issues
ADD/ADHD symptoms present in many ways both at home and in the classroom that may be dismissed to the uninitiated:
Academic
- Difficulty sustaining attention
- Rushing through assignments
- Trouble following directions
- Poor performance
Physical
- Headaches
- Poor coordination
- Excessive noise-making, talking
- Frustration and signs of stress
What is attention deficit disorder?
ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is a neurodevelopmental condition marked by persistent inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
These symptoms often interfere with daily activities and learning, and many children with ADHD also struggle with written expression.
Causes of ADD/ADHD and how BrightWay Kids helps
The exact cause of APD is unknown, but it is believed to be related to a dysfunction in the central auditory nervous system. Factors that may contribute to its development include:
BrightWay Kids is a therapeutic gaming platform uniquely designed to address ADD/ADHD by targeting the root causes while making the learning process engaging and effective.
Fun games that address ADD / ADHD issues
Subscribe and get anytime access to the BrightWay Kids platform. Get the Unlimited monthly subscription – only $79.99 per month. Start or stop anytime.
How BrightWay Kids can help your child thrive
Daily dose of therapeutic fun
At BrightWay Kids, we make learning fun and effective for children with ADD/ADHD. Our interactive games transform focus-building exercises into engaging challenges, helping kids develop attention, impulse control, and visual processing skills—all while staying motivated and confident.
We understand your journey
We know how challenging it can be when your child struggles with focus and restlessness. BrightWay Kids offers research-backed, multi-sensory activities that strengthen attention skills in a way that feels rewarding—not frustrating.
With us, your child can rediscover the joy of learning.
LET's get started today
Choose one module or the whole series
BrightWay Kids offers focused programs for struggling readers with ADD / ADHD, or get the complete series with BrightWay Kids Unlimited:
- BrightWay Kids Unlimited $79.99 / mo
- BrightWay Kids Focus $59.99 / mo
Open the door to your child's future
Subscribe to BrightWay Kids and get anytime access with an online account. Your monthly unlimited subscription is $79.99. Start or stop anytime.
Attention Deficit Disorder Deep Dive
Learn more about ADD and ADHD
Processing delays
Related symptoms
Easily distracted by visual stimuli
Inconsistent performance
Poor academic performance
Detailed explanation
ADHD impacts the brain’s ability to focus on tasks for extended periods, including visual activities. Children with ADHD may become distracted by irrelevant stimuli or lose focus entirely, resulting in inconsistent work quality and slower progress. These attention lapses are particularly evident during visually demanding tasks, where sustained concentration is critical.
Connection to visual processing skills
ADHD often coexists with deficits in visual tracking and scanning, which are essential for maintaining focus on a single task. Addressing these visual processing challenges helps improve the brain’s ability to manage and sustain visual attention.
BrightWay Kids Activities
Focus-building Games
Gradually increases the duration of attention tasks, encouraging sustained focus.
Stop/Go/Wait
Why it Helps
Compresses perceive → decide → act cycles and drills quick inhibition, directly addressing slow start-up times
Description
Spoken “Go,” “Stop,” or “Wait” cues appear every 1‑2 s; tap only on “Go.”
Impulse Control
Reinforce self-regulation by requiring thoughtful responses during visual activities.
Speed Saccades 3
Why it Helps
Mimics reading while demanding instant symbol recognition plus immediate motor output, accelerating the eye‑brain‑hand pipeline.
Description
A cue letter/word sits above; single items scroll left to right like print; hit space when they match.
Tracking Challenges
Improve the ability to follow and foucs on moving objects without distraction.
Speed Tracker
Why It Helps
Combines rapid visual discrimination with sequenced tapping under time pressure, stretching sustained rapid-response capacity.
Description
A grid fills with letters (or sight‑words). The sequence to find (e.g., A → B → C → D) is shown once; the learner taps the targets in order as fast as possible.
Genetic
Related symptoms
Frequent misunderstanding of speech
Struggles with reading and spelling
Difficulty understanding nuances in language
Detailed Explanation
Genetic predispositions and developmental delays can hinder the brain’s ability to process sound effectively. These issues often manifest as difficulties in associating sounds with letters, decoding words, or interpreting the subtleties of spoken language. For example, children may mishear similar-sounding words or struggle with phonemic awareness, which are key components of literacy development.
Connection to Visual Processing Skills
Developmental delays affecting auditory processing can also impact visual processing, as both rely on the brain’s ability to interpret sensory input efficiently. Addressing visual skills like pattern recognition and discrimination can support overall comprehension and literacy.
BrightWay Kids Activities
Phoneme matching Games
Help children connect sounds with their visual representations, aiding in coding and spelling.
Frenzy Letter Sounds
Why It Helps
Provides a complete, rapid review of every phoneme-to-letter link in the alphabet, automating basic sound-to-symbol access essential for decoding and spelling.
Description
Rapidly connects sounds to letters through interactive review, reinforcing automatic recognition of phoneme-letter links.
Word Pattern Recongition Tasks
Improve literacy by strengthening the ability to identify and process words patterns visually.
Word Builder
Why It Helps
Connects spoken word, ordered letter string, and full word shape in one step, strengthening common spelling patterns and visual word memory.
Description
A picture appears (e.g., cat); the learner drags letters into boxes to spell the word, then hears it read aloud.
Auditory-visual Word Recognition Games
Boost high-frequency word recognition through interactive, multisensory search activities.
Sight Words
Why It Helps
Integrates auditory word recognition with quick visual localization, reinforcing whole‑word retrieval and sharpening attention to word forms amid clutter.
Description
A spoken high‑frequency word (e.g., because) plays; the learner scans an illustrated scene and taps the printed word hidden among other items.
Vision
Related symptoms
Squinting or tilting the head
Complaints of eye fatigue or eye strain
Avoidance of near tasks like reading or homework
What to do next — get a professional eye exam
If you notice these signs, the first step is a comprehensive eye exam. Structural vision problems such as farsightedness, astigmatism, strabismus, or uncorrected refractive error require diagnosis and treatment by an eye care professional. These conditions can make near work uncomfortable, often manifesting as poor attention or avoidance.
Ask for a full evaluation
When you schedule the appointment, consider asking for a full functional vision assessment from a Behavioral or Developmental Optometrist. These specialists evaluate not only clarity of sight but also how the eyes work together and how the brain interprets visual information. A full evaluation commonly includes tests for:
Visual acuity and refraction (need for glasses)
Eye alignment and binocular vision (how the eyes coordinate)
Focusing (accommodation) and tracking (eye movements)
Visual perception and processing skills
Bring examples of schoolwork or teacher notes if possible. If your child already wears glasses, bring them to the appointment.
How BrightWay Kids fits in
Our BrightWay Kids activities are designed to improve visual processing skills, endurance, and comfort with visually demanding tasks. They are not a replacement for an eye examination or medical treatment. If a structural vision problem is found, follow the recommendations of your eye care provider. Our programs work best as a complement to professional care or after an optometrist has cleared or treated any underlying ocular conditions.
If you need help finding the right provider, ask your pediatrician for a referral or request a recommendation from your child’s school. If you notice sudden changes in vision, contact an eye care professional right away.
Visual processing
Related symptoms
Overlooking details
Errors in copying
Trouble following visual directions
Detailed explanation
Visual processing disorders disrupt the brain’s ability to organize and interpret visual information. Children with these disorders may struggle to recognize patterns, recall details, or follow visual instructions. This often results in errors, slower work speed, and frustration during academic tasks that require visual precision.
Connection to visual processing skills
Deficits in visual processing directly impair attention by overloading the brain with unorganized input. Strengthening foundational processing skills enables the brain to manage visual information more effectively, thereby reducing errors and enhancing focus.
BrightWay Kids Activities
Discrimination Exercises
Train children to differentiate between similar objects, reducing errors and omissions.
Color Challenge
Why It Helps
Forces fast “same vs. different” decisions and blocks the automatic—but wrong—read of the text, sharpening flexible attention and rapid visual discrimination.
Description
A color word (e.g., blue) appears in an ink color that may or may not match. Click the square showing the ink color (e.g., red), not the printed word, before it disappears.
Organization Games
Help improve spatial awareness and the ability to follow visual sequences.
Crush It
Why It Helps
Requires whole‑board scanning, quick pattern spotting, and spatial planning—skills that carry over to lining up numbers, reading charts, and keeping written work organized.
Description
Swap any two adjacent tiles to create a row or column of three identical icons. Matched sets vanish and new tiles drop in. Keep chaining matches to rack up points.
Direction-following Tasks
Reinforce attention to visual cues with step-by-step instructions.
Speed Trainer
Why It Helps
Reinforces instant interpretation of visual directions and immediate motor response, improving the ability to follow step‑by‑step visual cues in classwork and note‑taking.
Description
An arrow (↑ ↓ ← →) flashes on the screen; press or tap the arrow that points in the same direction before the next cue appears.
Environments
Related symptoms
Easily distracted by visual stimuli
Difficulty in visual search
Avoidance of visual tasks
Detailed explanation
Busy or overstimulating environments can overwhelm children with visual attention deficits, making it difficult to filter out irrelevant stimuli. This results in frequent distraction, frustration, and avoidance of tasks that require sustained visual focus. Children in these settings may struggle to locate specific information or concentrate on the task at hand.
Connection to visual processing skills
Overstimulation highlights weaknesses in visual filtering and focus. Strengthening visual processing skills helps the brain prioritize relevant input, improving concentration even in busy environments.
BrightWay Kids Games
Filtering Challenges
Train children to focus on specific targets while ignoring distractions.
Color Burst-Visual Discrimination
Why It Helps
Requires split‑second detection of the target cue while suppressing equally bright distractors, teaching the brain to stay locked on relevant visuals in a changing scene.
Description
Two colored dots sit side by side and swap hues every second. The student taps only when the dot on the left turns into the goal color and ignores all other color changes.
Visual Search Games
Encourages the ability to located items in cluttered or busy backgrounds.
Saccadic Wheel-Eye Spy
Why It Helps
Strengthens whole-field scanning and selective search, allowing students to quickly extract needed details from busy worksheets, posters, or screens.
Description
A rotating wheel is filled with pictures. The game says “pumpkin”; the learner scans the spinning wheel to find the image.
Focus Tasks with Timed Elements
Beat the Clock
Why It Helps
Combines time pressure with precise visual‑motor placement, training students to zero in on critical details rapidly and finish visual tasks within classroom time limits.
Description
The student drags and drops shape pieces into their matching slot before time runs out. A built‑in timer shortens as skill improves.
Visual stamina
Related symptoms
Frequent breaks during tasks
Complaints of headaches or eye fatigue
Slow and labored movements
Detailed explanation
Limited visual endurance makes it difficult for children to sustain attention over extended periods. This can manifest as frequent breaks, complaints of discomfort, and slower task completion. Poor stamina often results from underdeveloped visual processing and coordination skills, which require more effort to perform even simple tasks.
Connection to visual processing skills
Poor stamina reflects weaknesses in visual-motor integration and focus, as the brain expends extra energy to compensate for processing inefficiencies. Strengthening these areas improves endurance and reduces fatigue.
BrightWay Kids Exercises
Endurance Training Games
Gradually increase the duration of visual tasks to build stamina.
Fruit Merge
Why It Helps
Requires steady eye tracking and hand placement with no true pause; the longer the student stays engaged, the higher the merge score—systematically stretching continuous visual attention and resistance to fatigue.
Description
Single fruit pieces drop one at a time onto a small board. Drag identical fruits together to merge them into a larger piece (🍒 → 🍑 → 🍍…), freeing space so play can continue—the round ends only when the board overfills, encouraging ever-longer focus periods.
Tracking Drills
Reinforces smooth and efficient eye movements, reducing strain.
Brick Blast
Why It Helps
Trains precise pursuit movements and rapid micro‑corrections, reducing eye strain and building the fluid tracking needed to stay on a line of text for extended reading.
Description
Use the paddle to keep a bouncing ball in play while it smashes rows of bricks. Each broken brick changes the rebound angle and speed, forcing smooth pursuit and quick paddle adjustments.
Step-by-Step Challenges
Break tasks into manageable tasks to build stamina.
Parking Jam
Why It Helps
Requires orderly, stepwise planning and execution—move one car, evaluate, move the next—teaching students to pace visual-motor work methodically, maintain focus across multiple moves, and finish longer visual tasks without giving up.
Description
A cluttered parking lot is shown from above. Swipe cars forward or backward in the correct sequence to create a path for the red car to exit. Each cleared level adds more cars and tighter spaces.
ADD Symptoms
Signs your child may be struggling.
Causes of ADD
Explore root causes of ADD.
ADD and Dysgraphia
The link between ADD and handwriting issues.
ADD and Visual Processing
The connection between ADD and visual processing.
The Science Behind Digital Games and ADD
Can games really help with attention deficit disorder?
Offline Games and ADD
Hands-on ways to build skills for children with ADD / ADHD.
BrightWay Kids is a foundational tool to build reading skills
Our carefully designed platform provides deeply engaging, targeted activities for different learner needs. This holistic approach translates to better engagement and faster immersion into the world of reading.
BrightWay Kids Unlimited requires no complex setup. Subscribe and start playing in moments. Start and stop anytime. $79.99 per month unlocks this robust suite of brain-based games.
BrightWay Kids isn’t a cure — and it’s not a diagnosis. But it is real, science-backed support that fits into your daily life. Because when your child’s brain gets the right kind of practice…reading starts to feel easier. And even fun.