Aim: To report on the oral comprehension of the non-literal meanings of indirect speech acts and idioms in everyday speech by children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Subjects and methods: The subjects in this study consisted of a sample of 29 Chilean schoolchildren aged between 6 and 13 with ADHD and a control group of children without ADHD sharing similar socio-demographic characteristics. A quantitative method was utilised: comprehension was measured individually by means of an interactive instrument. The children listened to a dialogue taken from a cartoon series that included indirect speech acts and idioms and they had to choose one of the three options they were given: literal, non-literal or distracter.
Results: The children without ADHD identified the non-literal meaning more often, especially in idioms. Likewise, it should be pointed out that whereas the children without ADHD increased their scores as their ages went up, those with ADHD remained at the same point.
Conclusions: ADHD not only interferes in the inferential comprehension of non-literal meanings but also inhibits the development of this skill in subjects affected by it.