Q: Should I Tell My Son That He Has A Motor Mouth?
Boys with ADHD don’t always have reliable social filters. If your son is prone to rambling with you, it’s likely he does the same thing with his peers. You can help him the most by telling him honestly when his tangents become boring.
Q: “My son is a complete motor mouth. I’m worried that he’s overwhelming his peers by flooding them with whatever thoughts come into his head. How do I help him realize that without hurting his feelings?”
Start by sharing your own internal dialogue. For instance, if your son is having a one-sided conversation with you about Pokémon or Fortnite, you have to say out loud, “You know, I’m feeling kind of bored with this conversation because you’re just talking at me about your interests, and we’re not really talking about things that we can both talk about, or that we both enjoy.”
When I tell this to parents, a lot of them respond, “Oh, I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to hurt his feelings.” If your main concern is protecting your son’s feelings, then you cannot teach him how to navigate socially in the most effective way. Either he can hear the truth from somebody who he knows loves him conditionally (and it might hurt his feelings), or he can be told by other boys to “shut up” or “you’re annoying.” It’s preferable that he learns from you because he knows that you have an emotional investment in him.
Try this: Instead of saying “You’re giving me too many details,” you could ask him, “If you were talking to one of your buddies right now, do you think he would be interested in this conversation?” This helps him develop self-directed talk around perspective taking, and allows you to reflect on his behavior without telling him directly that he’s talking too much.
Teaching social skills is teaching accountability. We have to learn how to be accountable to others in order to interact with them. So please do not worry about hurting your son’s feelings. And again, share your inner thought process with him so he understands your perspective. That’s how you’ll help him develop perspective-taking skills.
[Help Your Child’s Peers ‘Get’ ADHD: A Free Guide for Parents]
This content came from the ADDitude webinar by Ryan Wexelblatt titled “The Social Lives of Boys with ADHD: Why Traditional Therapy and Social Skills Groups Rarely Work” That webinar is available for free replay here.
