No confirmation of Geschwind's hypothesis of associations between reading disability, immune disorders, and motor...

Geschwind and colleagues have proposed an association among reading disability, immune disorder, and motor preference. Although reading disability commonly overlaps with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), ADHD has not been previously examined in studies evaluating Geschwind's hypothesis. In this paper we evaluate whether ADHD is associated with either asthma or left motor preference and whether asthma and left motor preference are associated with each other. Subjects were 6- to 17-year-old boys with DSM-III-R ADHD (n = 140) and normal controls (n = 120). Information on reading disability, asthma, and motor preference was obtained in a standardized manner blind to the proband's clinical status. Neither ADHD nor reading disability was associated with either asthma or left motor preference nor was asthma and left motor preference associated with one another. Our results are not consistent with Geschwind's hypothesis linking reading disability, immune disorder, and left motor preference.