Percy tells readers very early on in the story that he struggles in school, and he tells us that the school counselor believes his struggles are the result of suffering from dyslexia and ADHD. Percy is beginning to believe that his struggles and disorders make him less of a competent member of society.
What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.
Then, in chapter 6, Annabeth gives Percy some important information about his supposed "disorders." Annabeth and Percy are talking, and Annabeth states that Percy has to be a son of a god. Percy simply can't believe that, and he claims that Annabeth can't possible know anything about him. Annabeth then describes Percy perfectly.
"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."
"How—"
"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."
Percy can't believe what he is hearing, and Annabeth quickly explains what ADHD and dyslexia have to do with being the son of a god. She tells Percy that the letters get mixed up because his brain is wired differently (built to understand ancient Greek), and his constant need to move is a symptom of conditioned battlefield reflexes that exist to keep him alive. The attention problems are due to the fact that his eyes and brain are taking in far more information that a mere mortal could take in.
Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's.
In Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Percy is a sixth grader who has issues in school, partially because he has trouble focusing and reading. In the world of mortals, these problems have been attributed to Percy having ADHD and dyslexia.
When Percy gets to Camp Half-Blood and finds out that he's a demigod, he uncovers a lot of truths about his life. Annabeth Chase, a demigoddess with a lot of experience at Camp Half-Blood, tells Percy that his diagnoses of dyslexia and ADHD are wrong, and that many demigods are told that they have the same learning disorders. The reason he has trouble reading English is because his "mind is hard-wired for ancient Greek," and he can't sit still and pay attention in school because he has "battlefield reflexes" and his senses are "better than a regular mortal's." Percy realizes that Annabeth is telling the truth later on when she begins teaching him Ancient Greek, and he starts learning how to read in the language pretty easily.
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