Q: My Son Has Nothing In Common with His Classmates
Your son is not an athlete. He’s shy. And he doesn’t want to talk about professional sports or Fortnite. So how is he ever going to make friends? Well, it starts with perfecting the ‘social fake,’ according to expert in ADHD boys, Ryan Wexelblatt.
FREE WEBINAR REPLAY WITH RYAN WEXELBLATT
Listen to “The Social Lives of Boys with ADHD”
Q: “How can I help my son connect more with other boys who have different interests? The other boys in his class are much bigger than he is, and he does not like to engage with boys who are more physical or ‘rough and tough.’ He has difficulty with conversations that involve things he has no interest in. Unfortunately, most of his peers are so different from him and he really doesn’t have many friends at his school because of this. He is a sweet and sensitive boy with so much to offer, but he gets so stuck.” — ETFEmom
A: “You need to teach your son how to do what is called a ‘social fake’ — meaning you need to show an interest in others even if you are not genuinely interested because that is how we form and cultivate social relationships. What that looks like is…”
Ryan Wexelblatt, LCSW is the facilitator of the ADHD Dude Facebook Group and YouTube channel. Ryan specializes in working with males (ages 5-22) who present with ADHD, anxiety with ADHD, and learning differences; he is the one professional in the United States who specializes in teaching social cognitive skills to boys from a male perspective.
