BLC8916 hours ago

Hello Alt49,We have a similar situation in our house and my husband told my son they are going to work on it. We are a family that hugs so my husband hugs my son every day and comments on how good he is getting at it. They also shake hands regularly, it's kind of silly but the practice pays off.

So practice with your son, explain how it can help him feel more connected. Give him a script to work with. The more he does it the easier it becomes.

Yes it is common with ADHDers to have challenges socially partly because they feel different from others, or social anxiety from being called out for the simple stuff, or because their mind is elsewhere and they just aren't paying attention.

Give them the tools and then practice, they will get there.

BLC89

Aspen7973 hours ago

If you are worried, you could seek a speech therapy evaluation for pragmatic language. Regardless of diagnosis, they can help give tools and teach social skills if he happens to be behind. There are a lot of social skill books and programs. Michelle Garcia Winner has a social thinking program that many speech therapists use. A couple good parent focused books are “Why Won’t Anybody Play with Me?” and Fred Frankel’s Friend books (several). They are more focused on teaching skills through play with your child. The PEERS program is another skill program, pretty formulaic, with video’s and practice. A speech therapist is probably the best place to start if any extra help is needed.