Bachelor Star Kelsey Anderson Uses Sign Language to Manage Her ADHD

Bachelor star Kelsey Anderson shared a tip she uses to manage her tendency to “blurt” things out in the middle of conversations — a symptom she attributes to ADHD.

“Whenever a thought pops in my brain that I'm like, ‘Oh, I really wanna say this,' instead of immediately blurting it out, I'll do the sign language of the first letter of what I'm thinking of,” she told Bachelorette alum Jason Tartick — who also has ADHD — on the Oct. 21st episode of his podcast, Trading Secrets.

“Like, ‘Oh, I wanna talk about these animals,’ [so] I do an ‘A’ in my hand, and I keep it right here until he's done talking, and then I'll be like, ‘A, animal. Oh, I wanna tell you,’ “ Anderson explained. 

“That's a good tactic,” said Tartick, who shared that he sees a psychologist who specializes in ADHD.

Stock image of the letter A in sign language.Mario Ruiz/Getty
While Anderson said that she only knows the alphabet in sign language, it's enough to help her “put a thought to the side.” She said, “That's what helps me a lot not to blurt out and, like, interrupt them in mid-conversation [which] I think ... makes them feel like, ‘Oh, they're not actually listening.’ “

“I am,” she continued, noting that “my brain's all over the place always.”

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In fact, that's one of the symptoms of ADHD — short for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder — which is characterized by hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Anderson shared she also struggles with redirecting the conversation back to herself. “For example, if somebody told me that their mom had passed away, I don't have to be like, ‘Oh, my mom passed away too,’ " she said, adding that instead, she tries to "be like, ‘Oh, like, that stinks for you. Let me hear more about it,’ because no one's been through the same thing. We all perceive things differently and have different life experiences.”

From Left: Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson on Sept. 13, 2024.Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty 
“I can't ever be like, ‘Oh, I fully relate to you in this,’ but I can be like, ‘I've been through something similar,’ but I can't be like, ‘I've been through the same thing,’ " the reality TV star continued.

“The ADHD brain almost always wants to come back with, like, ‘Oh, great. Like, this is what I'm feeling,' ” Tartick said. “Something I've had to, like, actively work on is [to] stop and repeat back what the person's saying to me so they know that I'm hearing them. Then, let them be heard — because our brains move at such fast, crazy speeds.”

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Anderson shared that something she admires about her fiancé, a Bachelorette alum and current Dancing with the Stars contestant Joey Graziadei, is how he's able to stay focused in a conversation. “With Joey, whenever he talks to you, he, like, really is engaged in the conversation, and he gives you his full attention,” she said. “I love that because I try to do that. I know with my ADHD, sometimes it's hard.“