I'm A Parenting Coach – This Is How To Get A Child With ADHD To Listen

A parenting coach who specialises in supporting families of neurodivergent children has opened up about the mistake parents might be making when talking to their kids who have ADHD.In a video shared on TikTok, Dr Chelsey Hauge Zavaleta shared parents can often over-explain and over-negotiate, which means they are accidentally training their children to “tune” them out.Offering an example, she says: “Look, if one shoe is here and the other shoe is over here, you’re not going to be able to find your shoes and you’re going to be late for school. You need to put them away.”But this, she claims, is “not going to get your ADHD child to listen”.What to do insteadIn the same video, Dr Hauge Zavaleta said: “What doesn’t work is long rational explanations or even multi-step lists. Your over-explaining of where the shoes need to go and what’s going to happen if they don’t go there sounds like ‘wah wah wah’.”She offered another way to communicate the issue, saying: “Shoes” and then pausing, and tapping them. “Shoes, over there,” she continued in a sing-song voice, while pointing where the shoes needed to go.“You want to go for one word at a time and then pause. If they don’t follow through, give another support that is not more language,” she added. The expert added the brains of kids with ADHD can become very overwhelmed with multiple instructions and long, rational explanations.So breaking it down and reducing how many words you’re saying “supports both their working memory and their executive function”.The NHS advises that certain adjustments might help children with ADHD, including “giving clear and simple instructions one at a time in a calm voice”.Splitting up tasks into 15 to 20 minute slots with a break in between might also help, as can offering praise (or even making a reward chart) to highlight when a child does something well. In her video, Dr Hauge Zavaleta offered an example of an 11-year-old who was struggling with all the instructions her mum gave her in regards to getting ready each morning. Once the parent used one-word instructions alongside visual supports, the expert added, “this 11-year-old had no problem getting ready”.Any more tips?Yes! In a separate video, the expert said getting close to your child, we’re talking within arm’s distance – and not yelling directions across the room, or upstairs to them – can also encourage children to listen.“Distance literally makes it harder for their brains to process the information you’re giving,” she added.You can see more of her videos on encouraging kids with ADHD to listen, here.Related...Meltdowns In Kids With AuDHD Are Never 'A Choice'. This 1 Response Can Help‘They’re Simply Wired Differently’: 10 Ways To Help Teens With ADHD Get Through Exams5 Things To Stop Saying To A Child With ADHD

Comments

Breaking news

Hotel just yards from the Old Course reveals £1.1m transformation

The Herald

The shocking moment Lewis Hamilton is left 'devastated' after hitting a furry animal at 100mph and damaging his car in F1's Canadian Grand Prix

about 2 hours ago

Comments

Similar News

Michael Flynn Defends Israeli Military Campaign Against ‘Psychotic’ Iranian Regime: ‘I'm Anti-Stupid War,' 'Not Anti-War’

'I'm a property expert - simple mistakes will take thousands off value of your home'

‘I’m an American, Bro!’: Latinos Report Raids in Which U.S. Citizenship Is Questioned

Mounjaro has cured me of these three common life-limiting conditions. I'm healthier now at 60 than I was at 40...

I'm a fashion expert and here's my guide to the top raffia accessories just like Kate Middleton's sell-out £28 clutch

2025 U.S. Open: Full $21.5M Payout as JJ Spaun Wins First Major

'I'm a professional cuddler - don't be ashamed to pay £85 for a hug'

‘We gave up the internet for five days - I’m surprised my marriage didn’t end’

I'm a fashion expert and these are my 8 wedding guest rules. From the dress style that will make you look old to the colours you must NEVER wear - and the hat mistakes to avoid

I'm Vanessa Feltz's daughter and a trained child therapist. Here's what my mum taught me - and 11 other ways to help an anxious child in today's scary world

I'm a scientist who cured my insomnia... and discovered what we've been told about sleep is a lie

JAMES RAY: Children in this country are desperate for strong paternal role models. I'm on a mission to help men be the best fathers they can be

'I'm a hot tattooed gran - people accuse me of shoplifting because of my looks'

'I'm a baby name expert - one classic boys name is on the brink of extinction'

Noughties millionaire playboy who dated Bianca Gascoigne and Jodie Marsh and was engaged to Katie Price before she famously dumped him for Peter Andre during their I'm A Celeb stint now leads a VERY different life

I saved for years to retire to a villa in Spain but now I'm working as a cleaner. Don't make the same mistake I did

I'm a female solo traveller - here are my backpacking essentials for travelling alone

I'm a Brit living in the US and my tradesman charged me MORE after I asked him a polite question

I'm quitting the UK and moving my kids to the other side of the world - my husband's in the top 1% of earners but we're still struggling

‘I’m a conservative dad who voted for Trump – I’d do anything for my trans child’

Breaking news

Hotel just yards from the Old Course reveals £1.1m transformation

Popular city centre townhouse venue on the market

ABC owners say School of Art 'dismissed fire warnings' before second blaze

20-year-old arrested after fatal crash which killed teenager during alleged chase

Map shows the full route of where Global March to Gaza is planned to take place

Tattle Life creator who built ‘most toxic place on the internet’ unmasked as blogger Sebastian Bond

Island ferry vessel build contract awarded to Yorkshire firm

Scottish university receives approval for campus in Mumbai

John Swinney comments after after trans killer’s record ‘wiped’

Taxi company face having license revoked as council call hearing

Woman caught stealing ‘£400 of Jellycats’ from Worcester garden centre by stuffing them down her trousers

‘I’m one of the 100,000 people against the disability cuts and I can’t remember a time it was this bad’

Drug warning issued ahead of Glastonbury after high-strength MDMA found at Parklife

Tyson Fury heads off to business meeting still wearing Primark Soccer Aid suit after dropping F-bomb live on ITV

National inquiry into child grooming scandal should never have taken so long

I Swapped 10,000 Steps A Day For 30 Minutes Of 'Japanese Walking' – I've Never Been More Active

Here's What Flight Attendants Can And Can't Do When A Passenger Is Unruly

Kalen Jackson is carrying on her father's legacy through her mental health advocacy

The best hotels in Newquay for 2025 surfing holidays and Cornish beach views

Nursery worker kicked boy in face and vaped in front of small baby

Mom accused of killing 8-month-old son by putting him in scalding bathwater because she was mad over dirty diaper

Famed megachurch televangelist Jimmy Swaggart hospitalized after cardiac arrest

Celebrity birthdays for the week of June 22-28

Fox & Friends gush over ‘fantastic’ producer of Trump’s military parade — who once work on their show

Supreme Court agrees to hear appeal from New Jersey faith-based pregnancy center

Supreme Court order gives religious organizations new chance to challenge New York abortion rule

Inmates at Scots jail paired up to launch brutal blade attack on fellow prisoner

Nationwide East Kilbride fundraiser coins in cash for dementia specialist nurses

'Distinct' signs of latest Covid-19 Nimbus variant including 'razor blade throat'

Dunkeld roundabout and new train station car park proposed in A9 dualling project plans

Perth Aldi store granted planning approval for third time

The historic Oasis Scotland gig that got legendary band signed in 1993

Justin Bieber fans 'praying' for star as he says 'I'm broken' in heartbreaking update

Plans for Perthshire solar farm the size of 140 football pitches refused

Provost's posh car replacement has saved Perth and Kinross Council almost £14,000 a year

Loch Ness Monster spotted for second time this year with sinister recording

Uniform exchange in West Lothian will help families with 'completely unaffordable' school costs

Man, 64, reported missing after 'falling overboard' from Dunoon ferry

Three children swept out to sea at Blackpool beach

Perth and Kinross Council issues warning after scam spotted in Perth car park

Former Scotland rugby captain 'complying' with order in domestic abuse case

Israel had 'no choice' but to attack Iran, Israeli president claims

Human leg found on UK beach

Lavish life of Love Island 'Barbie' unmasked as 'brains' behind £53m drug cartel

'Hannibal the Cannibal' killer Robert Maudsley wants to return to 'Monster Mansion'

Tourist flees after shattering 'priceless' Van Gogh chair in museum 'nightmare'

Brit horrified as donkeys 'frothing at the mouth' made to carry tourists in 31C

Ryanair boss slams 'scandal' of UK flight delays for millions of passengers

Rules for anyone taking prescribed medication to Glastonbury 2025

'Entitled neighbour lets dog run around my garden and made outrageous demand'

Kate Middleton steals the show as she returns to Garter Day after cancer treatment

Girl, two, fatally electrocuted while bouncing on funfair trampoline

Mum's final days before fatal skydiving fall from haunting joke to last-minute switch

'I saw Air India crash as it happened - one horror detail will haunt me forever'

Sky News host tears apart Top Tory's 'excuse' for not calling grooming gangs inquiry

Chilling Ring doorbell footage reveals man staring into woman's bedroom for hours

Brazen Prince Andrew heads to huge royal event despite King Charles 'ban'