Reason my DS has learning difficulties

You aredistinguishing between Learning Disability (LD) and learning "difficulties"? You list dyslexia as a "learning difficulty", but many dyslexics will have a high IQ since part of the definition is (or used to be) a discrepancy between their overall intelligence and their ability at reading, and dyslexia includes a number of difficulties eg with organisation which in practical terms make it a disability.

They were institutionalised, put in orphanages, put in special ed schools, kept at home, or sent to mainstream and left to suffer. It's only more recently that people now care about these children and want to help them. Previously they were labelled the R-word and dismissed by society. I myself was put through mainstream primary for the first 3 years, completely non-verbal, but just classed as extremely shy because no one thought smart girls could be autistic.

Go tell that to the government then, and all the universities, charities, psychologists and counsellors who all say it is a learning difficulty. Then try telling the people with ADHD that there is nothing wrong with their ability to learn things.

@DollyDoyle post 18 accident or illness people wouldn’t be classed as LD by our service, they wouldn’t be eligible and would have to be seen by neurology or whoever. It’s sad sometimes cos there are people who would be a better fit in LD but the rules are strict and we only see who we are commissioned for.
So autistic adult with underlying anxiety who can’t leave the house , struggling with lots of everyday things due to autism, IQ of 65 yes, same picture with IQ of 100 no.
head injury at 16 lowering IQ/struggling with everyday life yes, at 19 no.
maybe other services are more flexible.

as to original post, I was asked to prepare a short lecture on the causes of LD last year, it’s a massive subject, some are inherited or genetic “accidents” some we don’t know, or the evidence just isn’t there to be definitive.
It is something we are learning more about all the time.
i never finished the lecture ….

What about the explosion of cancer diagnosis over the last 150 years?

I wish people with absolutely zero knowledge or experience would refrain from espousing their completely unfounded "belief " when there is a mass of evidence if they bothered to take five minutes to take a look.

@HollyKnight ADHD is not a learning difficulty/specific learning disorder (or a learning disability). It's a neurodevelopmental disorder. Learning difficulties do not effect the IQ as a whole e.g. dyslexia.

I’m really not sure this is true. I work in send. The number of places needed for pre-verbal autistic kids is raising rapidly. The level of needs of the youngest children in complex needs schools is rising rapidly. The number of pre-verbal or gestalt kids who have to be supported in mainstream due to no places in specialist schools is also rising rapidly. This can’t be explained by different diagnostic critera or by the fact they were institutional in the 60s/ 70s. Anyone who has worked in early years and/ or send for the last 10 years or more can see this very clearly.

More support and better understanding of these kids is desperately needed because there are just so many of them.

@DollyDoyle you can't acquire a learning disability later in life, effects from something like a brain injury are different. A learning disability is life long. Generally diagnosed in childhood but some older people may be diagnosed in later life for various reasons e.g. they have been cared for by parents and have never had input from services.

ADHD is 100% a learning difficulty.

I agree that it is important to use the right terms; I work in a diagnostic service myself. Autism and ADHD are not learning difficulties. They may be co-morbid with a learning difficulty but by no means is that always the case.

Agree that a learning disability is a low IQ and problems with everday functioning / activities of daily living. Agree that it will be present before 18 (unless acquired after that point e.g. through an accident).

I think there needs to be more research into the explosion of kids being diagnosed with Autism.

There have always been children with autism. They were just called something else in the past. The main thing that has changed, and continues to change, is the criteria used to diagnose them. There aren't suddenly more children being born autistic.

This

How many cases?

Your sons genetic condition is still genetic, will he pass that on?

I'm not being argumentative, just that sweeping statements such as "many cases" without any kind of evidence is really not very helpful. Is many cases 1 in a million? 1 in a thousand? Half?

i know you said you thought the doctor was rude but she was right when she said who knows. Sometimes things can't be explained or there is no obvious reason. Why isn't really important though I wouldn't focus in your child and trying to help him as much as you can.

@DollyDoyle I am a specialist HCP working in Learning Disability.
the UK definition of LD is that it MUST be present before 18. It can be diagnosed post 18 but this is rare.
learning difficulties in the UK are autism, ADHD, dyslexia etc, these are linked to LD in that they often exist together but not to IQ necessarily. Lots of people with these have a normal range IQ.
They can be disabilities in their own right, but a learning disability is low IQ (under 75) problems with everyday functioning present before age 18.
Almost everyone coming into our service at 18 already has that diagnosis. We get some from overseas without it and the odd late diagnosis but it’s unusual.
sorry to sound pedantic but it is important to use the right terms to allow access to the right people. We often have referrals for people without an LD but neurodivergence or other conditions, who would benefit from our service but we sadly cannot help them.

I think there needs to be more research into the explosion of kids being diagnosed with Autism. I understand there is better and earlier diagnosis now but it seems like such huge numbers of kids are suffering and they need to find out why. Do you have any history of autism in your family?

That's anecdotal based on your child and genetic doesn't always mean it runs in the family my sons chromosome deletion was de novo

That's the best answer you are likely to get. They don't know why.
I've got a a DC with autism and moderate learning difficulties. I've also got super bright DC with excellent social skills and no SEN. Same father, same mother, same lifestyle.
There is no blood test to tell us why.
In the early days I researched every intervention, every 'cure' and therapy. For the most part, its a fools errand. Educating yourself on autism and learning difficulties will be beneficial for you both.
The best thing you can do is accept him, love him, make adaptions and be constantly looking at ways to help him work on or around, aspects of his difficulties.
You need to save your energy for getting every bit of support that will benefit your DS and helping him thrive to reach his full potential. To question why is natural, but it's not helpful to you or him.

Lots of little "pseudoscience" has helped my son. If it only helps 2% but you find lots of little 2% things, 10% results in a big change.

Also I think being open to things being able to improve ( ie my non verbal son talking) helps ia tiny bit too. Ie just being cautiously open minded helps these kids

How many cases exactly? Have the parents and both sets of grandparents been screened in all these many cases?

When DS was diagnosed (a while back) we were told there were at least 12 genes associated with ASD and that it was entirely feasible he could get a few from each of his parents.

Neither myself or DP were diagnosed when DS was born but it has become increasingly clear I have ADHD and dyslexia, and DP has traits of both AS and ADHD.

Either way, OP this is not something you could have avoided. Enjoy your wonderful DS.

Mindfulness was pretty transformative for our DS.

Is it ?
My son has a chromosome deletion thought tho be the underlying cause of his autism So in his case it is genetic although not inherited
But in many cases there is no know reason for a child's autism
I don't doubt there is a,strong genetic link but I think there are other contributing factors

https://www.mencap.org.uk/learning-disability-explained/what-learning-disability

Yep. My eldest DS is diagnosed ASD, he has absolutely no academic learning difficulties. General life skills, we pull our hair out.

That's not true though. There is no evidence environmental factors are causal.

Please, please, do a bit more research before posting things as facts, particularly in front of people who might be looking for answers that simply don't exist.