Why Do Kids With ADHD Talk So Much?

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhy Kids With ADHD Talk Too MuchCurb Excessive TalkingQuell Inappropriate CommentsTips for Parents and Caregivers

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Why Kids With ADHD Talk Too Much

Curb Excessive Talking

Quell Inappropriate Comments

Tips for Parents and Caregivers

Close

Kids tend to talk more when they’re excited. For kids who are naturally energetic, that might mean that talk a lot. Excessive talking is a common trait for kids withADHD(attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder).

They tend to talk so much because they often have trouble inhibiting and controlling their responses.They may blurt out whatever first comes to mind (whether it’s appropriate or not) without thinking through how their words may be received.

Kids and adults with ADHD may also monopolize conversations and talk excessively.Some parents might refer to it as “diarrhea of the mouth.” It is like hyperactivity with words.

Getting appropriate support, accommodations, and treatment for your child’s ADHD is an important first step. You can also talk to your child about how to help them manage their talkativeness. This can include offering rewards and providing visual or physical signals when they need to let others have a turn speaking.

Why Kids With ADHD May Talk Too Much

In general,kids with ADHDoften have trouble with “too much behavior”—too much talking, humming, noises, movement, fidgeting, wiggling, getting into things, etc.

There’s nothing wrong with being talkative or energetic. The problem is that kids with ADHD struggle to manage these tendencies, particularly in school settings where they are required to take turns or listen instead of talk.

In addition, there are several characteristics of ADHD that may lead to excessive talking.

Excessive talkativeness often persists into adulthood. Helping kids find ways to manage and express themselves appropriately can help them both now andas they age.

How to Manage Excessive Talking

Coping with overactivity and a lack of self-control can be very frustrating for the child with ADHD. Their lack of impulse control and filtering can be confusing or even off-putting to others who don’t understand the behavior.

Excessive talking may cause children with ADHD to experience rejection from others or be disciplined at school.

That’s why it’s so important to work with your child to manage this difficult symptom. Here are a few options to try if you’re wondering, “How do I get my child to stop talking all the time?”

Talk to Your Child’s Team

The first thing to do is to talk with your child’s doctor, who may want to prescribe or change medications or refer your child to a psychologist or occupational therapist to address excessive talking. If it’s left unaddressed, it may impair your child’s learning and social life.

It’s also important to involve your child’s teacher. Tell them about your child’s excessive talking and share any strategies you’ve found helpful when working on this characteristic.

How Is ADHD Treated for Children and Adults?

Problem-Solve With Your Child

The next thing to do is sit down with your child when they are fairly focused and amenable to talking and problem-solving. Address the talking/blurting out issue with them and come up with a plan to reduce the excessive talking. Your child may be interested in setting up a reward system to help motivate this change in behavior.

Together with your child, devise a signal you can give them to help increase their awareness of when they are talking too much.

Perhaps the signal could be you placing your hand on their shoulder as a reminder to stop when they are going on and on. A physical signal, like touching their shoulder, is often stronger than a visual signal, like a finger to the lips, but you may want to try using both signals together..

It might help if you pair the signal with self-talk. In other words, when you place your hand on their shoulder or your finger to your lips, your child says, either out loud or in their head, “I need to stop myself from talking right now” or something similar.

Self-Talk, Modeling, and Feedback Can HelpThis self-talk can often be very helpful, especially for kids with ADHD who tend to lag a bit in their ability to use self-talk to guide their behaviors. You’ll need to providea lot of modeling, feedback, and guidance to help them to develop this skill.

Self-Talk, Modeling, and Feedback Can Help

This self-talk can often be very helpful, especially for kids with ADHD who tend to lag a bit in their ability to use self-talk to guide their behaviors. You’ll need to providea lot of modeling, feedback, and guidance to help them to develop this skill.

Strengthen Social Skills

Unfortunately, excessive talking can make it hard for kids withADHD to make and keep friendsand be accepted within a larger peer group. When your child is young, you’ll likely need to play the role of “friendship coach,” as you carefully plan playdates and activities that will create opportunities for friendship development.

Before these get-togethers, review and practice some of the basics that can help shape good social skills, including taking turns in conversations, listening, showing interest in the other child, and speaking in a normal tone of voice. Your child’s teacher (and coach or another adult caregiver) can also play a role insocial skills training.

How to Improve Social Skills in Children With ADHD

How to Manage Inappropriate Comments

Also, it is important to give your child frequent and immediate feedback about their behavior and let them know what they are doing well.

Words of praise combined with strong incentives can be very powerful in motivating a change in behavior.

In order to help your child manage their excessive talking, it’s important to be calm and patient. That isn’t always easy when you are stressed, frustrated, and in need of a quietmoment to yourself. Some strategies that can help you cope include:

Set Boundaries and Give Yourself Some Space

If you need a break, give your child a task or project to work on or ask another household member to chat with them while you take a few minutes to yourself.

Create Quiet Zones

Set up a quiet space in the house where the goal is to be silent or speak quietly. This might include a room in your home where kids engage in quiet activities like coloring, reading, or drawing.

Find Healthy Outlets

Relaxation techniques likedeep breathing,meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation can also help you manage feelings of stress.

Takeaways

Talking too much can be challenging for children, parents, and teachers alike, so helping kids learn to manage this symptom will help reduce stress for everyone. Luckily, there are treatment options, including medications and therapies, as well as coping strategies that can help you and your family curb excessive talking and prevent it from interfering with your child’s school and social life.

Help Your Child With ADHD Stop, Listen, and Respond

7 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Pievsky MA, Mcgrath RE.The neurocognitive profile of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a review of meta-analyses.Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2018;33(2):143-157. doi:10.1093/arclin/acx055Felt, BT, Biermann, B, Christner, JG, Kochhar, P, Harrison, RV.Diagnosis and management of ADHD in children.Am Fam Physician. 2014;90(7):456-464.Parks KMA, Cardy JEO, Woynaroski TG, Sehl CG, Stevenson RA.Investigating the role of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity in language and social functioning using a dimensional approach.J Commun Disord. 2021;89:106036. doi:10.1016/j.jcomdis.2020.106036Green BC, Johnson KA, Bretherton L.Pragmatic language difficulties in children with hyperactivity and attention problems: an integrated review: Pragmatic language and ADHD symptoms.Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2014;49(1):15-29. doi:10.1111/1460-6984.12056Rademacher L, Schulte-Rüther M, Hanewald B, Lammertz S.Reward: from basic reinforcers to anticipation of social cues. In: Wöhr M, Krach S, eds.Social Behavior from Rodents to Humans. Vol 30. Springer International Publishing; 2015:207-221. doi:10.1007/7854_2015_429Pfiffner LJ, Haack LM.Behavior management for school-aged children with ADHD.Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2014;23(4):731-746. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2014.05.014Li JJ.Children’s reward and punishment sensitivity moderates the association of negative and positive parenting behaviors in child ADHD symptoms.J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2018;46(8):1585-1598. doi:10.1007/s10802-018-0421-y

7 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Pievsky MA, Mcgrath RE.The neurocognitive profile of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a review of meta-analyses.Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2018;33(2):143-157. doi:10.1093/arclin/acx055Felt, BT, Biermann, B, Christner, JG, Kochhar, P, Harrison, RV.Diagnosis and management of ADHD in children.Am Fam Physician. 2014;90(7):456-464.Parks KMA, Cardy JEO, Woynaroski TG, Sehl CG, Stevenson RA.Investigating the role of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity in language and social functioning using a dimensional approach.J Commun Disord. 2021;89:106036. doi:10.1016/j.jcomdis.2020.106036Green BC, Johnson KA, Bretherton L.Pragmatic language difficulties in children with hyperactivity and attention problems: an integrated review: Pragmatic language and ADHD symptoms.Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2014;49(1):15-29. doi:10.1111/1460-6984.12056Rademacher L, Schulte-Rüther M, Hanewald B, Lammertz S.Reward: from basic reinforcers to anticipation of social cues. In: Wöhr M, Krach S, eds.Social Behavior from Rodents to Humans. Vol 30. Springer International Publishing; 2015:207-221. doi:10.1007/7854_2015_429Pfiffner LJ, Haack LM.Behavior management for school-aged children with ADHD.Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2014;23(4):731-746. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2014.05.014Li JJ.Children’s reward and punishment sensitivity moderates the association of negative and positive parenting behaviors in child ADHD symptoms.J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2018;46(8):1585-1598. doi:10.1007/s10802-018-0421-y

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Pievsky MA, Mcgrath RE.The neurocognitive profile of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a review of meta-analyses.Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2018;33(2):143-157. doi:10.1093/arclin/acx055Felt, BT, Biermann, B, Christner, JG, Kochhar, P, Harrison, RV.Diagnosis and management of ADHD in children.Am Fam Physician. 2014;90(7):456-464.Parks KMA, Cardy JEO, Woynaroski TG, Sehl CG, Stevenson RA.Investigating the role of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity in language and social functioning using a dimensional approach.J Commun Disord. 2021;89:106036. doi:10.1016/j.jcomdis.2020.106036Green BC, Johnson KA, Bretherton L.Pragmatic language difficulties in children with hyperactivity and attention problems: an integrated review: Pragmatic language and ADHD symptoms.Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2014;49(1):15-29. doi:10.1111/1460-6984.12056Rademacher L, Schulte-Rüther M, Hanewald B, Lammertz S.Reward: from basic reinforcers to anticipation of social cues. In: Wöhr M, Krach S, eds.Social Behavior from Rodents to Humans. Vol 30. Springer International Publishing; 2015:207-221. doi:10.1007/7854_2015_429Pfiffner LJ, Haack LM.Behavior management for school-aged children with ADHD.Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2014;23(4):731-746. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2014.05.014Li JJ.Children’s reward and punishment sensitivity moderates the association of negative and positive parenting behaviors in child ADHD symptoms.J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2018;46(8):1585-1598. doi:10.1007/s10802-018-0421-y

Pievsky MA, Mcgrath RE.The neurocognitive profile of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a review of meta-analyses.Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2018;33(2):143-157. doi:10.1093/arclin/acx055

Felt, BT, Biermann, B, Christner, JG, Kochhar, P, Harrison, RV.Diagnosis and management of ADHD in children.Am Fam Physician. 2014;90(7):456-464.

Parks KMA, Cardy JEO, Woynaroski TG, Sehl CG, Stevenson RA.Investigating the role of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity in language and social functioning using a dimensional approach.J Commun Disord. 2021;89:106036. doi:10.1016/j.jcomdis.2020.106036

Green BC, Johnson KA, Bretherton L.Pragmatic language difficulties in children with hyperactivity and attention problems: an integrated review: Pragmatic language and ADHD symptoms.Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2014;49(1):15-29. doi:10.1111/1460-6984.12056

Rademacher L, Schulte-Rüther M, Hanewald B, Lammertz S.Reward: from basic reinforcers to anticipation of social cues. In: Wöhr M, Krach S, eds.Social Behavior from Rodents to Humans. Vol 30. Springer International Publishing; 2015:207-221. doi:10.1007/7854_2015_429

Pfiffner LJ, Haack LM.Behavior management for school-aged children with ADHD.Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2014;23(4):731-746. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2014.05.014

Li JJ.Children’s reward and punishment sensitivity moderates the association of negative and positive parenting behaviors in child ADHD symptoms.J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2018;46(8):1585-1598. doi:10.1007/s10802-018-0421-y

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