Half of people recently arrested by Met police may have undiagnosed ADHD, study finds

The problem is not really the internet it’s what they use it for. Also using the internet with phones that was a gift to the devil.

Mostly I prefer texting because people can just pick up the message as and when rather than immediately needing a response 

im not certain about this topic as I don’t use the internet socially very much - this is the first forum I’ve ever signed up to. I stay out of having opinions on things and just try to support my friends 

I’ve got a thick skin but sometimes you can be forgiven if you are being bullied 

Texting and the internet have lead to a lack of discipline, mostly though I blame poor parenting.

I have a thick skin but it would also be nice to remove it sometimes.

Yeah and I’ve definitely experienced somebody with PDA…. I think I’m quite relaxed for somebody with ASD. I think it’s because I grew up in a large family though and a supportive one too. My ex partner is undiagnosed ASD and 100% has this 

Yes so whereas unpredictable is meant to stand for,  'could do things differently', it is also perceived as 'potentially dangerous.'  I can see that you have to be so careful with which words are used in training material to make sure you don't accidentally instill the wrong notion of how to deal with an autistic person.

If you are someone that dissociates in conflicts, then you may become unresponsive and 'not do as instructed?' as well as someone who might have PDA and find it difficult and become aggressive to simple request?

One of the worst things I think is and even on this side of things —- autistic people are described as “unpredictable behaviour” and unfortunately that terminology has a lot of negative connotations attached to it. I’m unpredictable as in one day I’ll randomly take myself on holiday and other days I’ll only go certain places at certain scheduled times. I’m probably quite relaxed and if anything I’ll take myself off for time out and cry in my bed. I think this terminology often suggests that if anything autistic person is presented with a stressful situation they may become violent or unstable which I think is totally wrong and definitely stereotyping and that terminology needs to be changed to be something more understandable and relatable …. But also what humans out there are predictable that often?! 

You are right, I think I was getting a little 'newspaper-y'. 

There are a lot of people in the police who are autistic and ADHD themselves so I don’t think it’s a big worry that they will automatically scapegoat or stereotype people based on this and will take it into consideration in the future. I think there has been a big drive on this in the past year anyway especially in terms of the increase in diagnosis. I would trust the police to do the right things and also remember that it isn’t the actual police who chase prosecutions and make the decisions against people. I think this was potentially more of a problem 20 years ago 

I think the issue here is more that there are still so many people with undiagnosed ADHD. There is such a push at the moment that it's being over diagnosed and people are putting on their symptoms for a trend etc rather than people accepting that it's maybe just a much more common condition than previously thought. Perhaps the answer is more in the support these people need to prevent them being more likely to commit crime rather than just in how the police deal with it.

I feel police need to do some further training (always!) as what we know about being autistic/ADHD is that other people find us odd. For police this can mean to difference between arresting them or cautioning. How many did they decide to arrest because the 'suspect' got confused at bright lights being shone in their faces and having people shout loudly at them. Because they avoided eye connect and so we're suspicious? Because they were told to be still but kept fidgeting and moving? They became distressed and melted down? 

I can see what the outcome is most likely to be.

Note: I am not suggestion they haven't done wrong, just the difference in how a small encounter might play out.

I'd turn it around the other way. Rather than presume they are all being picked on, ask why are these people disproportionately involved in crime?

A number of vulnerable young people are pressured in to to the drugs business, acting as mules for others and exploited.

The issue should be to provide better support before it gets to this point.

The psychologist I saw earlier this year, nitbrgevsane that diagnosed me, works in a secure unit, with offenders I believe, half her time. She mentioned the overrepresentation of ASD/ADHD people.

It is not new news. The issue is what to do about it.

It comes up I hacking trials too. It raises ethical issues about responsibility.

I also think it's important to stress that many ND people are law abiding. I believe the primary link is through exploitation and exclusion ather than inherent criminality, although if course a proportion of any group may be drawn to crime.

People shouldn’t be commenting on you in that way anyway perception stands for a lot in comparison to just projection of emotion alone, this can be clearly seen in the history of texting. You can text somebody perfectly placidly and happily and they have a big tantrum over it - and that’s a lot to do with their own mental health issues and not specifically you.

I sometimes have this problem to, I have had people tell me I'm to intense. Actually when I am relaxed and not bothered what people think its ok. Its just when people try to isolate me or contrast the way I look - like kids in the playground.

I have spent my entire life looking suspicious basically because I have autism and try to blend in with people…. Never committed a single crime - stereotyping isn’t a good thing. Probably these people have been let down early in life and been driven into crime and the wrong sub groups. Another example of stereotyping is telling people what jobs are not suitable to autistic people rather than listening to their individual needs and adjustments which may be far off the mark of generalisation. I think this is something which will change over the coming year ahead