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Does Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) increase stranger danger? Of course it does. I have a niece, nephew and a granddaughter with ADHD and I know other children who have it. They are bright, intelligent children. But children with ADHD have one thing in common and that is, they don't stay focused and are easily distracted. Their minds wander and they tend to space out at times.

Furthermore, children with ADHD do not think fast enough. We had told all of the children many times to watch out for slow-moving vehicles on the way to and from school. They knew to run and not let them come up alongside them, giving them a chance to grab them and force them into their car.

When my niece was ten, her father had bought a new van that she had never seen. He was on his way home and saw her getting off the school bus. When the school bus pulled away and she began walking down the street, he decided he would see what she would do when approached by a slow-moving vehicle.

He came slowly up behind her on the other side of the street. She turned, but the windows were tinted so she had no idea who was in the van, yet she turned back around and kept walking. He pulled up beside her and she stopped!

He let the window down and when she realized it was her father, she simply smiled and asked him where he got the new van. Well of course he lectured her about what she was told about slow-moving vehicles, especially if they pulled alongside her and she merely stated, "I forgot.".

Having three children in the family with ADHD, I have read a lot about it and I have observed their behavior closely. I took my nephew to the bathroom at the mall once when he was twelve, waiting at the door for him. Two men went in while he was there. One came out but the other was still in there.

A good while later, I became concerned and was about to open the door, but the man came out. I waited another minute, opened the door and called out to him. When he answered, I asked if he was having a stomach problem. He said he was just thinking. Well you can believe I asked him if he could think about the fact that I was waiting for him.

Children with ADHD need more protection. Their minds wander, they tend to space out, forget, and don't observe their surroundings. When my sister's husband picked my niece up from the bus stop that day and realized how vulnerable she was to strangers, he never let her walk home from the bus stop alone again.

We kept an eagle-eye on all of the children, but the ones with ADHD, we were very protective of. They needed to be monitored more closely.

Learn more about this author, Pat Lunsford.
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