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Risky Child Behaviors

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Does ADHD increase stranger danger?

Results so far:

Yes
56% 89 votes Total: 160 votes
No
44% 71 votes

My first reaction to this question was, of course children with ADHD are vulnerable to stranger danger, but on reflection, after considering the experiences I have had with my own four children, one of whom has Tourette and ADHD syndrome, I have to conclude that ALL children are vulnerable to stranger danger and rely totally on the sensible advice and good habits that you instill into them at an early age.

As any parent will tell you, all children are different and they will deal with certain situations in an individual way. I realized very early on that there is no point in try to get your child to deal with a potential problem in life if it was outside of their normal reactive capabilities.

For example, my eldest daughter was a very shy and introvert young lady who barely had the self confidence to walk up the road on her own, let alone deal with a stranger who could pose a potential risk. Clearly screaming out loud and shouting was not an option for her and so we devised a "safe route" for her to walk to school. I was in no doubt that she could not be enticed into a car with the promise of a few sweeties, but I also knew that it was possible that she could freeze with fear. Telling her to shake her head and then run as fast as she could to the nearest neighbor or friend seemed like the best option for her.

The worst thing to do to your child is to make them paranoid about every single person that is a stranger to them. Teaching them to fear anyone that they don't know is lazy parenting and all you are simply doing is putting them into a fearful situation every time they step out of the door.

ADHD children may need a little extra guidance, but in the long run you are actively helping them understand the world around them and live and react to certain situation in a sensible manner.

My ADHD son is an extremely bright young man but had a very low attention span. No matter how many scenarios we practiced at home I was always in fear that he would be "distracted" and enticed or grabbed by a complete stranger. He was a little more difficult to teach but until I was sure that he was safe, I never allowed him to walk outside alone.

With ADHD children you have to be repetitive. They haven't got the capability to think things through properly and so the best way to deal with a potentially bad situation is to get them to react to it in an instinctive way, rather than hope that they will "remember" what they have been taught.

I got him into the habit of walking along the inner


Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

Does ADHD increase stranger danger?

No
  • 1 of 7

    by Jane Allyson

    My first reaction to this question was, of course children with ADHD are vulnerable to stranger danger, but on reflection,

    read more

  • 2 of 7

    by Maxine Schleisner

    I personally raised two children with A.D.H.D. and can tell you that it doesn't have anything to do with stranger danger.

    Many

    read more

Yes
  • 1 of 4

    by Pat Lunsford

    Does Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) increase stranger danger? Of course it does. I have a niece, nephew

    read more

  • 2 of 4

    by Elaine Jones

    I have two children a daughter, 5, and a son, 11. My son has been medicated since August 2006. My experience with my son,

    read more

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