Verified by 
Key points
- Children with ADHD often use humor to alleviate the stress of failure.
- Humor can help children better like their peers who have ADHD.
- Typical ADHD traits like greater creativity and diverse thinking are important in generating and understanding humor.
My ADHD son is the master of puns and one-liners. His comical antics and sense of humor constantly make me laugh. I’m sure you have been entertained at one time or another by someone with ADHD. Although “sense of humor” or “good at puns” won’t appear on the list of symptoms, those with ADHD can be great at providing some comic relief.
Humor as a Coping Mechanism
Those with ADHD know all too well the negative view others have of them: They can’t get things done or remember simple tasks, they're always late, and they're never organized. As a result of constantly being criticized, kids with ADHD can experience low self-esteem, believing they are lazy, spacy, and generally inadequate compared to their peers. Having a good sense of humor can be a way of alleviating those feelings.
Humor may also help with social development in kids with ADHD, who are often viewed negatively by peers due to symptoms of inattention, immaturity, hyperactivity, impulsivity, poor emotional control, and aggression. ADHD kids can lack self-awareness: They may not pay attention to their emotions, feelings, behaviors, and how they affect others. As a result, kids with ADHD can often appear callous, uncaring, or socially inept, and developing meaningful peer relationships can be challenging. However, teachers and peers view kids who have a good sense of humor more positively than those with lower humor abilities (Masten, 1986), suggesting that humor can influence interpersonal relationships.
According to Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Stanford University, individuals with a fixed mindset, like those with ADHD, believe they have a certain set of skills that cannot be modified or changed: You are good at something, or you are not. Fear of failure is a hallmark of the fixed mindset. Humor can help ADHD kids manage this stress by keeping mistakes in perspective. One way my son keeps things in perspective when he makes a mistake is to say he’s more than a clown; he’s the whole circus. Laughing at his shortcomings helps my son to solve the problem instead of exploding with frustration.
Why ADHD Kids Are Funny
ADHD kids are creative and can be better at generating novel ideas, suggesting they may be better at generating and understanding humor. In fact, traits associated with ADHD, like creativity and excellent problem-solving skills, have been associated with a better appreciation and understanding of humor (Thorson et al., 1997; Suls, 1972).
Excitement-seeking (or risk-taking), another trait associated with ADHD, is also important in using and appreciating humor. According to Rick Green, comedy writer and founder of TotallyADD.com, a brain that makes seemingly unrelated connections between things can better understand and create humor.
If your ADHD child keeps you laughing, it may indicate a high IQ, as several research studies have identified a link between intelligence and humor. According to Willinger et al. (2017), understanding humor, particularly dark humor, involves complex information processing, including high nonverbal and verbal intelligence.
So, encourage your ADHD child to laugh at their mistakes. Letting my son know it’s OK to fail helps him keep his mistakes and frustration in check. Importantly my son understands the challenges he must overcome, but I don’t want him to be defined by those challenges of his ADHD. To make light of his blunders, I will affectionately call him " the ADD special.” My son has learned to recognize the humor in his ADHD, often sending me jokes poking fun at his disorganization, time blindness, and inattention; I get to enjoy a good laugh and celebrate his intelligence.
References
Chung, H. J., Wyandt, L., Verdi, G., Swentosky, A., Marraccini, M., Varejao, M.,...Turcotte, K. (2013). The relationship among ADHD symptomology, executive functions, morality, and humor. The ADHD Report, 21(7): 5-9.
Masten, A. S. (1986). Humor and competence in school-aged children. Child Development, 57(2): 461–473.
Suls, J.M. (1972). A two stage model for appreciation of jokes and cartoons: an information-processing analysis. Academic Press, New York.
Thorson, J.A., Powell, F.C., Sarmany-Schuller, I., & Hampes, W.P. (1997). Psychological health and sense of humor. J Clin Psychol 53(6): 605-619.
Willinger, U., Hergovich, A., Schmoeger, M., Deckert, M., Stoettner, S., Bunda, I., …Auff, E. (2017). Cognitive and emotional demands of black humour processing: the role of intelligence, aggressiveness and mood. Cogn Process 18, 159–167.
