--- title: Boy interrupting description: Parent Amanda Morin tried a new behavior tip to help her preschooler with ADHD be more mindful of when he’s interrupting family members. slug: boy-interrupting author: Amanda Morin published: '2019-10-16T12:16:53.009Z' thumbnail: https://cdn-images.understood.org/p0qf7j048i0q/1D7BD87333514C1CA272A74B31DDB196/ba9694c231251c40663ba5d3747282f9/57599619.jpg source_url: https://www.understood.org/en/articles/boy-interrupting lang: en --- # Boy interrupting ## My story I’m a mother of three kids and always on the lookout for good parenting tips. My younger son is 4 and has attention challenges and [movement issues](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/understanding-your-childs-trouble-with-movement-and-coordination). Both cause him to be [impulsive](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/understanding-impulsivity). ## What’s happening Like a lot of preschoolers, he has a lot to say and wants to say it immediately. What’s different is he can’t put on the mental brakes when he’s asked to wait his turn. Some of this is related to attention issues and some to verbal tics that cause him to repeat words and phrases. The doctor says our son has “synapses gone wild” — which would be the perfect name for a reality show should our family ever star in one! All joking aside, I’ve been really worried about how this is going to play out as he starts school. ## The tip: End interruptions with a signal When I looked for parenting tips to help with this, one popped out at me: “End interruptions with a signal.” I liked that the simplicity of this tip, so we tried it. ## How it’s worked It’s taken some time for our family to find the right signal. We tried holding up an index finger, but when our son is zooming around like *The Flash*, he doesn’t always see it. We tried putting a gentle hand on our son’s shoulder, thinking the physical touch would help. It was better, but it confused him because that’s also how we remind him that his movements might put himself in danger. Finally, we settled on a combination of the two — the sign for the letter *W* (for “wait”) pressed lightly on his arm or shoulder. Our son is still interrupting, but he’s learning to stop and wait when we use the signal. I think it’s going well. The other day I interrupted him while he was talking to his brother and his little hand made the *W* sign on my arm. I’m counting that as a behavior tip win. --- ## Explore related topics and articles - [The challenge of keeping my impulsive and hyperfocused son safe](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/the-challenge-of-keeping-my-impulsive-and-hyperfocused-son-safe) - When our family moved to a small suburb several years ago, my then 6-year-old son asked if we could explore our new neighborhood on our bikes. My son has ADHD and autism, and he was quite impulsive at that age. So I was nervous about taking him out in an unfamiliar area. But I agreed. As we made our - [Anger is exhausting](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/anger-is-exhausting) - My story My two boys are about seven years apart in age. Thats far enough that they never had typical sibling rivalries. They didnt compete for friends, for instance. But they both have different needs and they did compete for my attention. What I was doing My youngest son has attention issues. When - [How I’m making peace with my son’s IEP](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/how-im-making-peace-with-my-sons-iep) - Dont do anything stupid, my wife warned me as we drove to a meeting with the school to discuss whether my 4-year-old son would get an IEP and special education services. I know youre not happy about this, but its the best thing for him. I grunted. And remember how much well save if he gets services, --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/boy-interrupting#webpage","url":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/boy-interrupting","description":"Parent Amanda Morin tried a new behavior tip to help her preschooler with ADHD be more mindful of when he’s interrupting family members."},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/boy-interrupting","name":"Boy interrupting"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","datePublished":"2019-10-16T12:16:53.009Z","description":"Parent Amanda Morin tried a new behavior tip to help her preschooler with ADHD be more mindful of when he’s interrupting family members.","headline":"Boy interrupting","url":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/boy-interrupting","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.understood.org/#organization","name":"Understood for All Inc","logo":"https://cdn-images.understood.org/p0qf7j048i0q/307jFAYQevghG8nQMCjh89/ccdbbec895765824db43f6d30b496e83/logo_lockup_navy.jpg"}}] ```