Nonstop talking | ADHD Information
I know many of you must also have this problem. I still do not know how to best handle it at times.My son wakes up in the morning talking and talks until the moment his little eyes finally close at night.
How do all of you handle these long drawn out stories and such? I do my best to listen but sometimes I just can't. Obviously I do have other things to do during the day. I can't give him 100% all of the time otherwise none of us would eat or have clean clothes and none of the bills would get paid. I feel like I am ignoring him at times because he will just talk and talk no matter what I am doing. Even when his brother hurts himself and is screaming at the top of his lungs Bailey will just keep talking as if nothing else is going on. He simply talks louder so that I can still hear him.
It drives everybody around him nuts. I heard a boy asking him once " can you just stop talking for 2 seconds?" Of course Bailey was so busy talking he didn't hear him.
I know this is just another part of ADHD. But what do all of you do? It does not matter if he is busy either. He can be doing anything from playing Legos to riding his bike. It is almost like he is narrating everything he does, in case someone missed something. I was just thinking it would be nice to be able to have a conversation with someone else once in a while but as long as Bailey is around nobody else gets to speak. My therapist has given me suggestions of course, but sometimes I just don't think, no I know she doesn't get it.
Jennifer
Is this as common as I think it is in children with ADHD?
SycamoreMum, My son talked non stop as well. Taking medication has helped with this problem quite a bit. It is only bad now before the meds kick in and again when the meds have worn off for the day. -gettingagrip-All I do is say " wow alan that is great Daddy would love to hear all about it
Your son sounds so much like my son at age 4-5. The problem became less as he got older. Now (age 7) he still talks a lot but it's not really innapropriate. He has learned about giving others their chance to speak.
When he was little my sister-in-law suggested that I make sure he had lots of art supplies like crayons and clay. This way he could express himself non-verbally. Also have music on often and give him the chance to sing and dance.
Sycamore Mom- you didn't mention how old your son is but I am guessing he is 5 or under, if that is the case I wouldn't worry too much. If he is school age this is a much bigger problem.
So the challenge comes about in the classroom as well as with friends.
In the classroom, it is not appropriate to talk when it's not your turn. Imagine the impact on the rest of the kids if a child is constantly interrupting or not giving others a turn. It certainly doesn't make the teacher's job any easier.
With friends, who wants to hang with someone who doesn't really listen to what you're saying and is only interested in what they are saying. If you look at folks who have a supportive circle of friends, usually their listening abilities are top flight. (Not speaking from experience since my listening skills still need a bunch of work....just ask my wife).
Having said all of this, it's my job as a parent to use whatever resources I have to teach and make my ADHD kid aware of this issue and its impact. I agree with GETTINGAGRIP, that once the meds kick in it's okay. But, I refuse to let meds be the fix, since I believe that modeling, no matter how many times I have to correct is the only way to really make a long term impact.
In the classroom, the teacher gave my guy three pieces of paper; one for each question he could ask during a set period of time. Once he used all of his paper's, he wasn't allowed to ask anymore questions. This worked especially well on field trips when small groups were being led by one person.
Another technique in the classroom was the 'golden rod'. A gold colored rod was passed around the room, and the only person who could talk had to be holding the rod. We've done something similar at the dinner table with a special salt shaker. Now if I could only get my guy to take a breath in between his sentences there would be a chance for the rest of us to speak.
Unfortunately, with peers, it's tougher and in most cases they usually lack patience when they realize that motor mouth is not going to stop and give them a turn. I can't remember the poster who suggested this, but the idea was to role play being a motor mouth so that your child could see the reaction and to learn how to back off. This one is really tough will small children since they have to be old enough to understand that there is another reality other than you own....that of the kid who you are trying to make friends with. But it seems to be making a dent on my 9 year old.
Anyone else have ideas?
Paul
Mine is 9, & unless I use a small amount of an anti-pschotic it looks like he is going to be like this forever. Had to imagine since his father & I are soooooooo quiet.
Our therapist has just taught our son the SS rule.
Stop and Substitute
Apparently "getting something off your chest" was for ADHDers.
I hope I can explain this well enough. When my son gets a non-verbal signal, he needs to STOP talking & open his mouth like he was talking, & from his chest, he needs to SILENTLY push air out. He is not to call attention to himself in any way, just substitute the breathing for talking. I haven't seen any great results yet, nor has his teacher, but perhaps this can help some of your children.
Hi Sycamore Mum I was having a little giggle to myself as I read your post with my son chattering away to me in the background. I sooooooooo relate to this!
My house is rarely quiet with my boy around. If he's not talking to me, he's somewhere in the house singing, making some kind of repetitive noise or doing a commentation on whatever he's doing. He has a very loud voice and we are constantly reminding him to talk more quietly. He's always last to finish his dinner because he's so busy talking!
My son and I have wonderful conversations which I embrace because it has only been the last 12 months that he has been able to express himself, prior to this his vocabulary was limited and he would get very frustrated. I know what you mean though, it's great to have a conversation and listen to them and try to answer their impossible questions but it's nice to have a break.
I'm afraid I haven't found a solution yet. When he is relentless, I ask him to go do something for me or just tell him that I have got some things to do so could he please go and amuse himself. He usually complies. We got him a Gameboy for his birthday and that will keep him quiet, most of the time, though he likes me to watch some of his tactics etc and gives me a commentary on whats happening in the game. There are times where we have to be firm and remind him about interrupting etc and he realises, after he's interrupted, and actually closes his mouth long enough for someone else to say something.
His teacher has a very relaxed classroom and the kids are allowed to talk fairly freely, so long as they're not interrupting etc. This works well for him and his teacher tells me he loves to chat but she's happy for him to do that at the appropriate times so as to not inhibit his personality.
We have reached a point with our son where he is happy, confident and full of enthusiasm for school. After all the past heartache we have been through, I can happily cope with his incessant chatter and appreciate where he's coming from.
Myboyisspecial38286.8977662037 [QUOTE=gettingagrip] SycamoreMum, My son talked non stop as well. Taking medication has helped with this problem quite a bit. It is only bad now before the meds kick in and again when the meds have worn off for the day. -gettingagrip-[/QUOTE]
I am absolutely stunned by your statement.... please, please, please correct me if I am wrong.. are you really saying that you are giving your son medication to stop his excessive talking.......if this is the case.. the doctor who gave you the medication should lose his/her licence.
When are we going to allow our children TO BE KIDS...
lets me thankful..... you and your child can communicate.. there are millions of parents out there who wish they could communicate with their children, think of the autistic children, think of the children who cannot speak..... then what?.. GIVE ME A BREAK
What the
is wrong with you people.
Can someone please calm me down.iyardie38287.3115740741
iyardie, - excessive talking can be a symptom of the executive part of the brain not functioning. They are not learning social cues properly or learning to wait their turn. This is a symptom of ADHD. If it was a stand a lone symptom that a child would obviously grow out of - it wouldnt be a problem. But if it is affecting their everyday functioning, then it is a problem.
Stop being so critical, when you obviously dont understand the pschiatrics of ADHD properly. If you did, you would not be attacking these people. I dont think talkers should be medicated either.
but ADHDers should be
Rae 70, I understand the executive part of the brain not functioning .... maybe I am missing something... "medication to stop execessive talking".. please explain. I await your response.p.s. I am not being critical.... I said if this child is being given medication "for execessive talking" only. iyardie38287.3131134259
And Iyardie, I came into this forum in June (I think) and back then I had NO idea about ADHD, just diagnosed my boy.
I would read these posts and think - sh*t these Americans are just drugging their kids and not parenting them. But after my son has been on medication and also I have learnt how to parent him properly, he has come along in leaps and bounds.
So I understand where you are at. It is overwhelming to think of all these kids on medications, but unfortuneately that is the facts of it. There are probably some kids that are misdiagnosed, I absolutely agree, and I am personally against medicating under 7's, but I have no control over this decision in others lives and therefore just try to help them, rather than make them more insecure.
It is easy to knock others, but you need to put aside your own feelings of injustice (and by the way - fighting hard for a perceived injustice is a sign of ADHD ) and try to focus on what postive things you can contribute, remember what our mums taught us, if you cant say something nice, dont say anything at all. And by the way, you can disagree with others and still be kind and helpful! It is possible. If you are careful and word your thoughts in a smart way, you may even bring them around to understanding your arguement. But no one takes kindly to harsh criticism, specially us ADHDers we just turn off usually.
I think you werent understanding sycamore mum, she was not medicating her child for excessing talking, she is medicating him for adhd, she was just asking if excessive talking is common in adhd kids. (well that is how i took it)
Oh ! 
. Well I dont know . I thought she was just saying that the meds help with making them shut up occassionally. Is there anything wrong with feeling like your kid is driving you nuts with their excessive talking and you wish they would shut up. - Well - if you disagree, you probably havent had a kid ear bash you 24/7. It drives you NUTSO.
Once again getting a grip is not medicating her kid for talking but is pleased that the ADHD meds are making him shut up occassionally.
There, I spose I am feeling a bit blunt at the moment, or should i call it it cyber efficient. But i just explained it to you with no emotion attached. I feel neither way about this situation except what I wrote in above posts. Cheers to you mate. RAe
iyardie, it must be hard for you in the forum, because most of us medicate. And you are probably searching for someone to talk to that raises a non medicated ADHDer to compare notes. But I had 7 years of unmedicated if that is any help. We just started at the beginning of this year, May I think.
So I have pretty good understanding of what you are going through. But my boy was becoming a danger to himself and others and therefore we had to do the med thing.
I wish I hadnt either, and I feel like sh*t about it, but I feel i have no choice either. But he is doing okay, but there are side affects that we are trying to deal with too.
Whatever road you choose is hard, but meds are helping my boy at the moment, so I will stick to it because No matter what I did before nothing helped him, he was just getting worse, And I know, I am a very good mother in every way. So it was not my fault.
And iyardie one more thing, if your boy is doing well socially and academically, how do you know he has ADHD???? I am confused.[QUOTE=iyardie]My son, has ADHD.... I choose no medication. ...it is not an easy road....he has been doing well academically and socially.... I pray and hope that I do not have to go down that road.... so far he is doing great... [/QUOTE]
I hope the same for you
. I think gettingagrip was saying that the meds her child is on also help with the talking. If not, we are not in her shoes...........
Excessive talking really gets these children in trouble both with their teachers & peers. My son has a nickname of motormouth.
Sometimes he is able to laugh about it & sometimes it really hurts. 
He is constantly in trouble at school for talking, which then leads to more teasing. Thankfully he is a very smart, nice boy that does well in sports. If not for the sports, I do not know if he would have any friends.
Our therapist has mentioned more then once we should use the smallest dose of an anti-psychotic, but we have refused. The way my husband & I look at it, no one is perfiect. The way our Dr. looks at it is this is really damaging his self esteem & his socialization. I wish I knew something that would really help him. If in your travels you hear something, please share it.
csmommy38287.5474074074 hi, this is common, my son also wakes up just full of energy and likes to talk and make sure every body else is awake, i tell him to whisper and don't make that much of noise, because everyone else is asleep, most of the time that doesn't work, but when he falls asleep, he sleeps like a rock... [QUOTE=SycamoreMum]I know many of you must also have this problem. I still do not know how to best handle it at times.
My son wakes up in the morning talking and talks until the moment his little eyes finally close at night.
How do all of you handle these long drawn out stories and such? I do my best to listen but sometimes I just can't. Obviously I do have other things to do during the day. I can't give him 100% all of the time otherwise none of us would eat or have clean clothes and none of the bills would get paid. I feel like I am ignoring him at times because he will just talk and talk no matter what I am doing. Even when his brother hurts himself and is screaming at the top of his lungs Bailey will just keep talking as if nothing else is going on. He simply talks louder so that I can still hear him.
It drives everybody around him nuts. I heard a boy asking him once " can you just stop talking for 2 seconds?" Of course Bailey was so busy talking he didn't hear him.
I know this is just another part of ADHD. But what do all of you do? It does not matter if he is busy either. He can be doing anything from playing Legos to riding his bike. It is almost like he is narrating everything he does, in case someone missed something. I was just thinking it would be nice to be able to have a conversation with someone else once in a while but as long as Bailey is around nobody else gets to speak. My therapist has given me suggestions of course, but sometimes I just don't think, no I know she doesn't get it.
Jennifer
Is this as common as I think it is in children with ADHD?
[/QUOTE] I felt that same way Rae70... when I found out he had ADHD, I thought I slept too much on the left side of my body during my pregnancy,.... I thought the stress of my marriage during my pregnancy - - as a matter of fact (there is an article in ADDitude.. that said they may have some relation to ADHD children); I thought I did not eat the right vegetables...Kindergarten was a disaster.. I had to hire a parent advocate to deal with the school.....it is hard work.. he is now in 2nd grade... and he has been great...I have made some major decision and compromise .... in our life to accommodate him....so far so good
I hope this is the end of a very long road...(i am being positive 
) My apologies gettingagrip... i really thought you meant you are medicating because of his excessive talking. I know that I am an ADHD child myself and I know that I can always talk nonstop..I never shut up...so its easy to understand where u are comming from..lol...Boy, I love this board. My daughter, who is 9, is a constant talker. We now have "the look" and she'll say, I'm talking too much, aren't I. I ask my husband how he does it. She will go on and on, even repeating herself, and he just sits there and sometimes answers and other times don't. Then when she is not talking, she is drumming on something, tapping or singing (and she really stinks at singing). I like peace and quiet sometimes, and she always has to have noise going. And the talking back, and the smart mouth!!!! I don't have enough time to mention those. I always get from the teacher, if she could just stop talking, she would do much better.
Anyway, hopefully she will be a lawyer or pubic speaker and put her yacking to good use.
It is a man thing, my husband "blocks" my sons out when they are on a talking trip. I will sit there with my eyes glazing over and he is just watching tv or something and doesnt seem to hear our sons..I wish I had that traitWow, I just picked up on this thread. iyardie you took my reply completely out of context. I was just responding to the question. My son has talked non-stop since he could talk. I remember telling him when he was 2 that Mommy just needed a couple of minutes of quite. I just thought that was who he was. It wasn't until he was in 2nd grade last fall and I was starting to get concerned about his academic performance that I asked his teacher to let me know if she was noticing anything that might be related to a learning disability. She contacted me about a month later and told me about his behaviours in the classroom. He would tell nonending rambling stories. He would get oversenitive to the actions of the other students. He would get up and walk around the room or out of the room to get a drink when the teacher was addressing the class. He was already having difficulties with math and reading. I took him to his pediatrician and he was diagnosed with ADHD and started medication. I did not stop at the pediatrician I made an appointment to get him fully tested at a childrens speciality clinic with a child psychologist an Occupational therapist and there was another professional but I don't recall what there speciality was at the moment. His diagnosis was confirmed. They asked me why I had requested the further testing when his pediatrician had already diagnosed him. I told him I wanted a thorough evaluation and I also wanted to know what else besides the medications we could do to help him. My son is now also seeing a psychologist to help him recognize his ADHD behaviors. Hopefully he will be able to stop them when he sees himself doing these things. I did not medicate lightly but I didn not want his academics to fall so far behind that he would not catch up and lose self esteem. So far he is OK socially although I know if I was a kid he would drive me crazy. I talk to his pediatrician face to face every 2 months to monitor the meds and make adjustements as needed. The meds have the added feature of stopping his continuous talking, that is all. -Gettingagrip-