by Roxanna Kay

Created on: August 19, 2009

Without a doubt - NO! Fifteen years of studying criminal behavior and blessed with ADHD myself, I would boldly say to anyone, "No way does ADHD increase Stranger Danger."

CRIMINALS AND THEIR VICTIMS...

ADHD children are not the ideal victim. Criminals hunt for the perfect victim and the over-active, vivacious child is not the victim they want to tackle. They look for the quite, shy child that is not calling attention to themselves. The one that will likely freeze when startled. A child's reaction the first few seconds are critical when being abducted.

Literally, the first few seconds of abduction either give the criminal the upper hand or will make the criminal run. A child that freezes is grabbed and silenced within a few seconds. The abductor will grab the child's mouth immediately to shut them up. An ADHD child's reaction will be spontaneous - kicking, screaming and downright wild. We are high-strung, the wild Mustang that's spirited, so to speak.

If we ADHD'ers don't want to be touched our first spontaneous reaction is to pull away and gear up for a fight - we can't help it. Grabbed by a stranger and an ADHD child is going wiggle, squirm and try to get away. There's a sense of fearlessness or risk-taking with ADHD children and to fight back is natural reaction - at least that's been my experience. We will fight to flight.

DISTRACTIONS...

One of the main symptoms of ADHD is we get distracted easily. A stranger lurking about is more apt to be found by someone with ADHD. It's a distraction. I know what's going on around me because it all distracts me.

As a child, I might be on my way to tell my mom about the stranger prowling around and see a pretty flower, pick it for my mom then take it to her. Totally distracted from my original mission, I forget to tell her about the stranger - but she loved the flower. The criminal is paranoid and can't help but wonder what the brat that made eye contact with him said to her mom. He slithers away before attention is cast upon him. This is a more likely scenario.

If you deal with an ADHD child, I feel compelled to offer this...that child is not stupid. To the contrary is probably very intelligent. We catch on fast so don't bore us beating around the bush. Get to the point because you won't have our attention very long. Simply say, "If you see a stranger come and tell me." That's it...before you're finished saying just that, we've probably thought, "Yeah, cause their dangerous. I should never talk to a stranger. I love waffles and chocolate milk." Make your precious ADHD child repeat what you said because with the next breath they're asking for chocolate milk. That doesn't mean they didn't hear you or didn't understand. It means they've already moved on to another subject.

Next time you take your child to the playground be observant. Look for the shy child that plays quietly alone because that is what criminals look for in a victim.

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