Why Chatty Instructions Don’t Work for ADHD Kids
Mom is washing dishes in the sink. The water is running and dishes are clinking. Her back is turned as she calls out, “Joe, finish eating your breakfast, and then brush your teeth and grab your backpack. You don’t want to be late. Oh, and don’t forget to grab your project. It’s due today and you worked so hard on it. Hold it carefully in your lap when you are on the school bus. You don’t want anything to happen to it.”
To a child with ADHD, the directions probably sounded more like this:
“Joe, finish eating your breakfast…something about the bus…blah, blah, blah.”
Then Joe becomes distracted by the sound of the water running in the sink, and it makes him think of swimming, and that makes him think of summertime. He looks forward to swimming and playing Marco Polo at the pool with his brother and friends. He hopes Randall isn’t at the pool a lot this summer because Randall is so bossy. That girl in science class is kind of bossy, too. Joe becomes consumed by his own shifting thoughts and isn’t even aware of mom’s talking.
Your child’s distractions and tuning out are not purposeful, though to a parent it can be quite exasperating. With long, drawn-out directions, a child with ADHD quickly finds himself in information overload. The important points you are trying to make become difficult to process, especially as he is distracted by his own thoughts or things going on around him. Rather than being able to successfully follow your directions, he misses them altogether. This sets both of you up for frustration, and it sets your child up for failure rather than success.
How to Give Clear Directions Your Kid Can Follow Successfully
Here are some simple tips for increasing your child’s compliance when you give him a direction. You may also want to share these tips with your child’s teacher at school.
