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CHRIS Hunter is autistic. He is not a criminal, yet he is regularly stopped by police. Speaking to strangers is difficult, even traumatic for Mr Hunter, but his evasiveness often brings him to the attention of officers who suspect him of criminal intent. He is not alone in this experience - now so commonplace a special identification card has been launched by Strathclyde Police, enabling autistic people easily to explain their behaviour when stopped. It is just another hurdle, exposed in a series of articles by The Scotsman, faced by the growing numbers of people diagnosed with the condition. Mr Hunter, 21, from Govan in Glasgow, said: "The police stop me and ask me if I am on drugs or if I have been drinking, because they think I walk past people funny. "I just tell them I've been playing on my computer for too long and needed to get some fresh air. It's very frustrating." His mother, Ann, said: "He spends a lot of time on his computer so he likes to go out about 10pm for a walk around the block. They ask him where he's going and what he's got in his pockets. "He comes in raging that he's the only person in the street who gets stopped." Mr Hunter believes the identification card issued by Strathclyde Police would help him explain to officers, who are trained to make eye contact, that many people with autism dislike direct gaze and can feel stressed or threatened by strangers. People with more severe autism may be unable to respond verbally and can become noisy or agitated if asked to deviate from their regular routine. To counteract the problem Mr Hunter has been improving his communication skills through a social group organised by the National Autistic Society Scotland (NAS). The group has become his lifeline to the world after a major setback when he was forced to drop out of college because lecturers suspected he might be autistic.
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