The Speech of Hyperactive Children and Their Mothers

Abstract

The language of hyperactive children has received little attention until recently. As a result, two studies of the verbal interactions of hyperactive boys with their mothers during standard 15-minute free play and 15-minute task periods are reported. In Study 1 the language of 18 hyperactive and 18 normal boys was studied while interacting with their mothers. Both the hyperactive boys and their mothers were found to use significantly more utterances in free play than normal mother-child dyads. No differences in language complexity for either mothers or children were noted between these groups in either setting. However, the ratio of the mother's level of language complexity to that of her son in free play was found to be significantly smaller in the hyperactive as compared to the normal group. Study 2 examined the effects of methylphenidate on the language of 12 of these hyperactive boys in the above situations in a drug-placebo crossover design. Drug treatment was associated with declines in the frequency but not the complexity of utterances in both hyperactive boys and their mothers in both free play and task periods.