To think if ASD is costing the UK 32bn per year we need to better early screening?

My boyfriend is autistic, and when he went to his GP to get a referral for assessment, his GP revealed he was autistic too.
They walk among us! Who knew?
My boyfriend is in a professional job (needs post graduate qualifications for it), but he struggles hugely in pretty much everything else.

Actually that is incorrect, any diagnosis is based on meeting the diagnostic criteria. Gaining DLA/PIP/Children’s disability payment Scotland is where is depends on the impact on day to day life.

@VivienneDelacroix Albert Einstein was believed by all who knew & worked with him, to be Autistic!

I'm willing to bet he's cost you as parents a pretty penny though. That's the reality for many parents of ND kids. I know we have funded it almost entirely ourselves.

I don't think my son , young teen, has cost the taxpayer a penny yet. Autistic, ADHD. Gaslit by school, doctor, assessing body within the LA who flat out refused to assess.

Now in mainstream, nightmare.

so was it prevalent in Elizabethan times and we just don't know about it?

We do know about it, it just wasn't known as autism then.

People would end up on the streets, in mental institutions or being put to death. Women would likely be tried and killed as witches.

Wow thanks OP. Make those of us with autistic children feel even worse, why don't you?!?!

I totally agree. My autistic son has had a huge stream of professionals involved over the last few years. Educational Psychologists, Autism Teachers, Disability Social Workers just for a start. So many meetings, but none actually meet him or offer anything tangible. Turnover of professionals is endless, and so we keep going back over the same info over and over. The money wasted is phenomenal and all it leads to is stress with no support.

In what way do you think they would have different lives?

I work with children (and their families) and I can tell you now the children that will go on to (and continue) to be involved with the criminal justice system.

Some refuse to take ADHD medication, some take it but it makes little difference. With ASD some may be at specialist school having 1-1 support but are still committing crimes or have behaviours which will risk crime, particularly sexual crime when they are caught/older.

I love my DS but I’m sick to death of people pretending like having a very severely impaired child with crazy high support needs doesn’t entirely ruin the whole families lives. I had to leave work, there’s no wrap around care, holiday care, baby sitters, he’s violent and you literally cannot blink or he’s injured himself or burnt the house down. It’s shit, I can’t fathom why people aren’t more honest about how awful it is. Doesn’t mean I don’t love him but you know…shitty life

@cookingthebooks My eldest is also autistic, but, unlike your DS, he’s verbal, can cope with our childminder and manages in mainstream school with support. Family life is still really hard, so I can’t even imagine what it’s like for you. So just a big hug for you as, yeah, nobody will get it unless they’ve lived it xx

They were the 'naughty kids' in school, the ones who were seen by the other students as 'dumb'. I can look back and see things in fellow students (and myself) that people viewed differently. Or they might have been the super achievers, the overly compliant ones who were maybe a bit quirky and different (that describes me more).

Descriptions of people with ND traits go back to ancient times.

Some wouldn't have been in mainstream education -many would have been institutionalised, in special schools, or in the youth justice system because without the adjustments we now understand autistic people would have struggled in education.
Others existed but they masked enough to not be noticed. They would often have been those who were in inappropriate sexual relationships, struggled with friendships, were high-achieving but put themselves under pressure, used drugs or alcohol to deal with sensory overload, or experienced eating disorders.

Lots of angles are being looked at but for some reason when you read information about ASD (of all types), people seem very certain its 'this' and 'this' is the only explanation and reason for ASD

The reality is that we are working with theory at the moment, there is no definitive proof of cause that applies to all cases and there is work to be done.

You’re not wrong. I’m shocked by some of them tbh.

They absolutely can, and do get diagnosed. There are autistic accountants, teachers, GPs, professors…

Did you know a lot of girls especially are diagnosed as EUPD/BPD when they are in fact undiagnosed ASD?

If you see it in your family line then it's probably genetic.

so was it prevalent in Elizabethan times and we just don't know about it?

When my son was being assessed for autism I was asked if I had experienced any depression during my pregnancy. I had at around 4 months become anxious and slightly depressed. I don't know if they were wondering whether anxiety/depression during pregnancy increased the risk of autism. But if they were doing a study into this I would be interested to know the outcome.

The prison population has very high numbers with ADHD and some of these men may have overlapping ASD traits. Another absolute shame for society that so many of these men would have had completely different lives with early diagnosis. Equally many also have severe trauma in early childhood which muddies the waters.

@gamerchick I agree. I can think of many children in my class 45 years ago that I now think would be ASD. The pressure was not so much at age 5 and they managed better. My extremely successful husband would get a diagnosis, as would all of his family. Their struggles come off as quirks. They did not go to school until age 7. By then their brains had matured and by age 10 were all thriving academically. Everyone earns enough to support their needs with staff. My son was thrown out of the UK education system at age 5, it was too much pressure at this young age. I'm educating him for now. I've had no help with anything from anyone. I haven't even registered him disabled as I think it could hold him back and the money doesn't touch our expenses. I fully expect him to thrive like the rest of his family.

Autism is very broad. Some argue too broad, but this is too simple. I don't qualify under this criteria but I know I'm autistic. Social skills can be learned, so I'm very high masking. No-one can tell I'm autistic but that doesn't mean I'm not. There are many autistic people hiding in the community without a diagnosis.

I can see this from both sides.
I have a very high support needs non speaking ASD eldest child and a NT youngest child. If I had known DS would have the level of needs he does I wouldn’t have had DD tbh because I’d have been terrified of it happening again but now I have DD and she’s NT im so glad I did.

I love my DS but I’m sick to death of people pretending like having a very severely impaired child with crazy high support needs doesn’t entirely ruin the whole families lives. I had to leave work, there’s no wrap around care, holiday care, baby sitters, he’s violent and you literally cannot blink or he’s injured himself or burnt the house down. It’s shit, I can’t fathom why people aren’t more honest about how awful it is. Doesn’t mean I don’t love him but you know…shitty life.

Considering autism is supposed to massively impact social relationships, it is a bit surprising that so many have no trouble with relationships and having children.

Autistic people often get on just fine with other autistic people.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubleempathyy_problem

This is so true, the autism spectrum is so wide.

I suspect I am Autistic, late to hit milestones, speech delay as a child, learning disabilities, impaired social skills however, as I grew older I learnt to mask and as an adult, I have a professional job, two kids and a husband.

I still struggle now, especially with the social side of life and with change but I can function.

What I will say is when I was at school, they had smaller classes for children with learning disabilities so they could receive extra support. That extra support is GONE now, so more children need 1-1 support in mainstream classes.

Short term gain for long term pain.

I got more support academically than my daughter who is very similar to me. Its very sad.