Why Some ADHD Children Struggle to Recognise Their Own Body Signals

As adults, we often assume children understand what their bodies are trying to tell them.

Hungry

Full.

Tired.

Too hot.

Too overwhelmed.

Needing the toilet

But for some children with ADHD, recognising and understanding these internal body signals can take longer to develop.

This is something I remember very clearly from my own childhood.

When I was around 10 years old, I went to a birthday party where there were lots of cakes and sweets laid out on the table. I loaded my plate up and remember one of the mums saying:

“You’ll be sick if you eat all of that.”

The strange thing is, I didn’t really understand what she meant.

I didn’t stop and think:

“Maybe I should slow down.”

I just carried on eating until suddenly I couldn’t eat anymore and felt horrible. But even then, I didn’t recognise the feeling as being “too full.” I remember thinking:

“Why won’t my body let me eat anymore?”

and: “This happened at Christmas too.”

At the time, I genuinely didn’t understand the sensation my body was giving me.

Looking back now, I understand this very differently.

Our bodies constantly give us sensory information such as hunger, fullness, temperature, pain, movement, and emotional sensations. This can be linked to things such as somatosensation and interoception, which help us recognise and understand what is happening inside our own body.

For some children with ADHD, recognising and interpreting these internal signals may take longer to develop.

And this can show up in lots of different ways.

Some children may struggle recognising:

• when they are full

• when they are tired

• when they need the toilet

• when they are becoming emotionally overwhelmed

This does not mean children are intentionally ignoring adults or being difficult. Sometimes they are still learning to connect body sensations with meaning and experience.

As parents, it can be easy to assume children fully understand what their body is telling them, but development is not always even, especially in children with ADHD.

Of course, this will not apply to every child with ADHD, as children with ADHD are just as individual and different as neurotypical children, and traits and experiences can vary hugely from child to child.

Sometimes understanding behaviour starts with understanding the child a little more deeply.