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Approach to improve ADHD articulation/speech and slow process for expressing oneself

32 replies

Return2thebasic · 07/07/2023 18:12

Posted at SEN board, didn't get any response. Hence give this high traffic board a try.
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DS10 had speech delay when he's young. Didn't speak in full sentences until starting school at 5yo.

Always struggled with executive functions, especially organising thoughts and expressing them in a way others can follow/understand. He had some development leaps during the years. But COVID set back that for about 1.5 years.

He's diagnosed last year for ADHD (mild/moderate) and has started medication since February. A lot has been improved , but speech remains a challenge. He sometimes just can't find the right words to describe whatever in his mind. He often misses out the key information or any basic background feeds, so that people have no idea what he's talking about. It hurts to hear when his friends could talk at ease about whatever funny or deep thoughts they have while DS tends to pause in mid sentence and drag on before he can make himself understood.

He writes well, but a slow writer. And what he usually focuses on are actions and events, but not able to describe feelings and thoughts.

I really want to help him to be clearer self expressed and better understood by others, especially when he goes to secondary.

I'm not sure if speech therapy is the right answer , as his problems largely lay with processing and organising information.

Has anyone gone through similar situations? Or any advice?

OP posts:
Abby212 · 22/12/2023 22:10

Hi. This is my first ever post. I was just googling the exact thing you described and came across this post!

My little boy is 5.4 months. He's very energetic and switches from task within minutes. He really struggles to get his point across. He can easily tell me what he wants and stuff like that but literally exactly the same as what you mentioned. He also was a late talker and I think because of this he struggles socially. He's very bright but struggles with speech. His school wanted him assessed for asd but both me and partner strong suspect adhd.

I noticed this post is a few months old now so did you manage to find anything that helped your son?

Return2thebasic · 02/01/2024 17:36

@Abby212 , sorry. there's no magic cure. But assessment is the right path. Then medication would do great help (depending on the child). The rest will be trial and error therapy searching and their own development of coping mechanism over time.

I was told to not intend to "change" them, but to accept they will find their way and be appreciated by people who accept who they are evenutally.

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Rainbows89 · 02/01/2024 17:49

Hi OP. I was diagnosed 2 years ago aged 43.

I found medication really helped with my speech. It was strange because I wasn’t actually aware that I struggled with it. But I found once I was taking medication I was able to articulate my thoughts much more clearly and succinctly.

its such an interesting subject and I haven’t found much that has been written about it.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Abby212 · 02/01/2024 18:31

That's really interesting. I also struggle to articulate what I want to say alot. My doctor asked for me to referred for an adhd assessment but at the time I didn't think much of it.

My little boy has the same problem as me but I've noticed it seems to be improving. He is only 5 so I'm thinking maybe I'm over thinking it. Perhaps because he didn't talk till he was 2 he's still a little behind. He's so full of energy and wanting to do everything I think he doesn't focus much on his speech.

Rainbows89 · 02/01/2024 18:44

Also, I would imagine speech therapy could help. Maybe contact a couple of speech therapists near you and ask if this is something they can help with?

Return2thebasic · 02/01/2024 22:08

@Rainbows89 for myself, unfortunately, the medication is rather disappointing. I've tried Elvanse and then switched to Demolsart due to side effects. But neither of them did any miraculous shifts. Only very subtle to myself (even though DH can notice the difference). I didn't find the "inner peace" that I have been longing for...

OP posts:
Return2thebasic · 02/01/2024 22:09

Ah, meant to say DH did say I articulate a lot clearer when medicated, even though I myself can't really tell.

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Rainbows89 · 02/01/2024 22:59

I take Elvanse and although there are some positives it isn’t life changing for me in the way that I see some people describe!

Sometimesnot · 02/01/2024 23:24

Speech therapist with an adhd diagnosis here.

I doubt that what you’re describing communication wise, particularly the delay in starting to speak is purely adhd related. There’s often co-morbidities that come with adhd and language disorders (eg dld) can be one of them. Language disorders are the most common type of sen but are massively under diagnosed.

I would say it would definitely be worth seeking out a speech and language assessment to help identify any gaps and give advise for strategies/ interventions that might help. It was also mean you had information to share with secondary. In most areas an assessment should be available from the nhs. P

In terms of intervention it might be worth looking into whether school could provide some support based around narriative language as it sounds like that’s what he’s finding hardest. A package like Victoria Joffe’s narrative intervention would help work on lots of the things he finds tricky.

Sometimesnot · 02/01/2024 23:25

You might also ant to look up Cluttering to see if that describes you/ your son in any way. Cluttering is often associated with adhd.

Abby212 · 02/01/2024 23:48

I've been reading up about language disorders and my cousin who is a salt told me they are massively underdiagnosed too. My little one shows every symptoms of adhd (combo type). His old school told me be doesnt interact with other children but I believe this is because he's so 'on the go' he's always busy doing something. Outside of school I've seen him interact with children lots of times and at his new school he is starting to make friends. He has fantastic eye contact and speaks alot, just sometimes seems abit muddled up at times (like he will start a story from the middle). I don't even know if that's usual for a 5 year old. He had a salt assessment at 4 and he was discharged as a 'late talker' however his old teacher was certain he has asd as she said he was similar to her son. The new school said he's getting on really well but I'm unsure whether to mention anything to them or let them approach me

thedementedelf · 02/01/2024 23:57

Ds was like this too. He's 12 now and still struggles occasionally but he's mainly ok. Your ds will slowly learn.

Speak to speech and language but because it's how his brain functions, S&L might not be able to help (they couldn't help ds) but they did help with his stammer.

2024GarlicCloves · 03/01/2024 00:31

@Return2thebasic, I've seen some cards/stickers that are used with autistic children to help them identify & name emotions. As I recall, the protocol that goes with them works to help with managing feelings and expressing them in words. Would something like this be of interest?

I'm sorry I can't remember any details, but am sure other MNers will.

Return2thebasic · 03/01/2024 00:55

Rainbows89 · 02/01/2024 22:59

I take Elvanse and although there are some positives it isn’t life changing for me in the way that I see some people describe!

It's odd though. I had two weeks' complete inner peace that I've had never (probably will never again) experienced in my whole life after I titrated too high with Elvanse (really bad side effects) and stopped altogether.

But it didn't last, and I miss it... I felt like "a grown up" first time in my life.

Looked all over on the internet and queried my consultant, but in vein - no explanation.

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Return2thebasic · 03/01/2024 01:00

@Sometimesnot Thank you so much! I've been looking for "social story" resources, but couldn't find any decent one.

Is this one practical for being used by parents at home though?

Victoria Joffe’s narrative intervention

Had a brief look at "Cluttering" speech. No, it doesn't fit him. A bit like @Abby212 said, he seems to start describing a situation without giving context all the time. (Like start from the middle?) And very slow sometimes, as he struggled to find words/concentrate to not lose that thread of thought...

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Return2thebasic · 03/01/2024 01:02

@thedementedelf Yes, we got a SL therapist for him. She seems to be quite positive about him. But I'm not entirely convinced...

But she was able to understand him from brain operational point of view. Very good insights on how he processes information to help us understand.

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Return2thebasic · 03/01/2024 01:04

2024GarlicCloves · 03/01/2024 00:31

@Return2thebasic, I've seen some cards/stickers that are used with autistic children to help them identify & name emotions. As I recall, the protocol that goes with them works to help with managing feelings and expressing them in words. Would something like this be of interest?

I'm sorry I can't remember any details, but am sure other MNers will.

Just been looking for a game called MindPanda HappySnap The Hilariously Funny CBT Game For Kids. It emphasize similar awareness. But for much younger kids though (6+).

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Gruello · 03/01/2024 01:23

Look into Tomatis audio therapy. If you search fit-2-learn there’s lots of information on there.

Abby212 · 03/01/2024 07:01

@Return2thebasic yes it's exactly like that! Like he will come out of school and tell me something and I have to fish out the missing details and plot. Coincidentally my mum is exactly the same, obviously not to the degree of a 5 year old but she also starts from the middle lol.

My friend gave me one of those elvanse to try and I felt exactly the same. Inner peace. But I also felt unproductive and abit numb. Like you say, I felt like an adult!

thedementedelf · 03/01/2024 09:03

Rainbows89 · 02/01/2024 22:59

I take Elvanse and although there are some positives it isn’t life changing for me in the way that I see some people describe!

Have you been able to get elvance?

Gruello · 03/01/2024 09:26

To add to my post, my son is 9 and has ADHD. He is medicated, but only during term time as we take his lead on as and when he needs to assistance to focus.

ND children commonly have sound and visual processing issues which then affect speech, cognition and working memory as they work extra hard to take in information.
Since we started with and visual perceptual therapy there has been a marked difference in ADHD symptoms, speech and sound processing.

Return2thebasic · 03/01/2024 10:19

@Gruello , Hi, that's really interesting to hear. I'm aware "Auditory processing disorder" is a thing that might overlap, but not visual.

What's led you consider this therapy please? What kind of symptoms made you take path to tackle this direction?

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Return2thebasic · 03/01/2024 10:22

@Abby212 I wish it was Elvanse made me feel peaceful 😂 But excuse me as I didn't say clearly in my last post - it's when I stopped a very high dosage Elvanse (60mg), then I experienced the complete "peace" for two weeks without medication... Elvanse gave me too much anxiety and jittery feeling by itself.

That's why I think nobody can explain to me what really happened, as my psychiatrist said "I should have felt that way when I had Elvanse!"

Your friend might have given you her dosage, so if you properly go through titration, you may find the right dosage for yourself finding peace without the "numb" feeling. But it's a promising thing that it worked on you!

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Abby212 · 03/01/2024 10:41

Hey @Return2thebasic I think I didn't phrase my post well either actually lol... so when I took it I felt numb and not really with it. I didn't have any worries on my mind which I always do.. racing thoughts! But physically I felt like a sloth and like you said, jittery....however when it wore off I felt absolutely great. I felt at peace and I absolutely blitzed my house in 2 hours flat 🤣 it was the strangest thing because I felt good for about 3 days. But not actually when it was in my system lol

Return2thebasic · 03/01/2024 10:47

@Abby212 Yea! Yes! Yes!!!! So you felt it too! Soooo weird and strange, wasn't it??? A very unfamiliar but welcome feeling! I feel sad to think that's what I missed out all along in life while a NT person possess naturally...

DH tried to convince me to repeat this process at a regular interval. Lol, I don't think it would do though. The jittery feeling was really unpleasant and the 60mg dosage nearly made me have a heart attack!

What shall we do??? 😑

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