to ask this without expecting a backlash?

It's tricky because at the same time when it used to be Asperger's vs autism then that caused issues as well which is a reason why it was redefined to autism only.

Your post is really interesting, a friend has a lad with ASD and the only support he really needs is to be allowed to just 'be', if you get what I mean. Another pal's son is non verbal and frequently refuses to walk.

Does lumping these boys together under one umbrella really benefit them? One is very capable yet has been dismissed because of his ASD many times. The other boy has often been described as 'just a naughty boy'.

I know it's a spectrum but I do wonder if more definition/classification is needed? If only to attempt to dispel common myths/misinformation.

My mum was born in the 40s, her and her brother I'm sure had autism, and my grandmother (I and my cousin are diagnosed)

My mum was vulnerable, socially very naive and anxious and went from one abusive relationship to another. My uncle was 'odd' and a bachelor, couldn't hold down a job (tried, but always felt he was bullied, I think he often got into arguments because of misunderstandings) Always wanted marriage, always lonely. Both were labelled as lazy or naughty in school.
My grandmother was talked about in hushed tones as being 'cold' and not maternal, requiring my grandad to step in a lot (unheard of in that era). She preferred hobbies and wanted to work in 'mens jobs' with planes after being in the WAF. She was shipped off to a mental hospital a couple of times, especially around the time of the menopause.

My experience hasn't been great, but I really feel for past generations. Autism was definitely there, and just as disabling as it is today.

I can't speak for PIP because I have no experience with that yet as my son is still a child but at least with DLA, that isn't the case at all.

It is about care needs, not diagnosis. A child may have a diagnosis but not have care needs high enough to be eligible for DLA whilst the next child may not have a diagnosis but has high care needs so receives high rate DLA.

I studied psychology at A level in 1993 and can remember autism having two paragraphs in my Gross and being described as 'locked -in syndrome'. A brief mention of Asperger's as a mild disorder. Uni was no different, with brief descriptions of mute children obsessing over building blocks. Nobody really seemed to study autism and it certainly wasn't deemed important enough to learn about.

Today, Autism Studies could easily be a degree subject in its own right.

Well that wasn't my experience.

My DC's assessment (which cost us nearly) 3 grand, took most of a day, was carried out by an NHS paediatrician and SALT (they run a charity doing this), was based on years of evidence of difficulties and was done to NICE criteria.

Even though we paid, we had to wait months.

The EHCP took 2 years and a huge amount of paperwork.

We had around 10 years of violence from our child directed at us (she was able to mask in school just about).

Easy?!

None of this is easy!

FASD shows direct harm from the mum caused in utero so kind of obvious why the diagnoses are generally only sought in adoption cases. The guilt and judgement must be awful.

I was born in the 1950s, looking back there were definitely people with autism and adhd. They weren't diagnosed, but were called odd or eccentric or naughty. I could state categorically, that they had all the traits, and that today they would be diagnosed. It just wasn't something that was done then.

I get upset for past generations when I look at things my DS struggles with. He would of been hurt by his teachers and labelled as stupid

He's got dyspraxia, dyslexia, hypermobile and on a waiting list for adhd/autism assessment. Hes the first boy to ever get diagnosed with these things, but there must of been hundreds before him who never got the support they needed

My husband watched the Chris Packham documentary following the adults with autism.

He related so strongly to the young woman who masked all day and had to go home at night and stare at the wall and rock, that he cried.

He is on the surface an entirely unemotional, stoic, (almost certainly autistic) Yorkshireman.

Hiding in plain sight!

It shouldn't be a controversial question, if anything we need to be thorough and look into as many possibilities why it's on the rise.

That being said, in my school (born mid 80s) we didn't use the term ADHD, just hyperactivity. Those kids were put into bottom set of the classes, often separated, and prescribed Ritalin. They had to work extra hard to achieve anything. Kids with autism struggled also but unlikely diagnosed, like myself who was labeled the weird kid. I avoided school often but it wasn't a problem with the school. Id often set off to school, wait for mum to leave for work then come home. School didn't care, government didn't care, parents didn't know. I managed to pass my gcses with b and c grades. Other 'weird' kids weren't so lucky.

Aw @IkeaMeatballGravy that is a lovely story!

I do think it was around but just not diagnosed.
What I’m struggling to understand is the amount of adults I see now sharing a diagnosis. In the last few months I’ve seen around 5 people sharing (via Facebook 🫣) that they’ve had an autism diagnosis. A few I’ve known quite well and I can’t see where this has come from.
I know people say there is masking. I don’t really understand this part.
Ive always struggled with communication etc, and think I have many autism/Aspergers traits that are quite visible. I do think it would have helped when people have taken great delight in telling me I’m quiet/nervous/rude.

There are still special schools for children with SEND my son has bern attending one since he was four

I was also born in 1973 and there was one boy in my junior school who spent break time putting peanuts into cracks in the wall in the playground.
One day he just stopped coming to school and we never found out why.

He wasn't the only kid in my school that behaved what we saw as 'weirdly' who just vanished in the end.

Of course now I understand where they went.

Modern education is so rigid, high pressured and target driven that it is having a negative affect on ND children. My DS's teacher said that much of what she teaches her year 4s now is stuff that never used to be taught until year 7 and the kids who struggle to keep pace suffer. There is no room for flexibility. Class sizes are massive, how is an ND child with sensory issues supposed to cope in a class of over 30 noisy children? Children that would cope n a smaller class without so much pressure are now not coping.

Autism has always existed. My grandmother had a brother who was definately autistic, they went to a tiny village school. The head and his wife lived on site and the headteacher's wife would have him in the kitchen with her teaching him reading and writing in a way that suited him or he would be with the janitor helping him. He learned the basic skills to take up a trade and made more money than his academic brothers. Can you imagine that happening now!? He would be lost in a class of 30 kids and instead of learning in his own way he would probably be disruptive.

Personally I think there was the same amount around, it's just behavioural standards were different and you had corporal punishment. I have ADHD, school was awful for me. One of the best days of my life was walking out the gate knowing I'd never have to go back.

Awareness and diagnostics.

I was born in 1969, making me 56.
I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and ASD.
So... yes it existed.
People with these issues are born with it- it just doesn't manifest in later life but s exacerbated by hormonal changes ( in women) making diagnosis more likely around peri-menopause. In fact- my husband was convinced I had early onset dementia or something ( I dont- I knew I didnt)
I absolutely struggled at school, in social situations, friendship groups.
I always knew something was different but ADHD is portrayed a small boys bouncing off walls, rather than the internal mental hyperactivity. so I discounted that.
Its always been there- just not diagnosed.

I was born the same year as you OP. In the first couple of years of high school, early 90s, at least 3 boys in my form group were expelled because they were 'naughty' Looking back it's obvious to me that they were on the spectrum/ADHD. Then there were the 'misfits' the kids with no friends, who just didnt fit in. Neither 'naughty' nor disruptive. Just there, on their own with no support or social interaction. It's so obvious to me that all these children had some sort of SEN.
There was also the local Special schools. One was for the children with obvious SEND. Then there was the school we called the naughty school. That school basically had windowless cells in. I'm sure they called them time out rooms or something. I knew a couple of boys who went there. We thought of them then as naughty and not very clever, but fun to be around. Again, it's obvious now that they should have been diagnosed and given support. Not written off and locked in windowless rooms. It blows my mind that this was only the 1990s, which doesn't seem that long ago to me.

I'm the same age as you OP. Every family I know has at least one diagnosis. In my family we have 2 dyslexia diagnosis including me. The only reason I was diagnosed was there was a big push in the borough I grew up in (very lefty London) to test and diagnose and hand out free computers, £500 book allowance and a digital speller.
I have no idea if I am dyslexic or just mildly bad at spelling. Same with my daughter. We only got her tested privately so we could get extra time in SATS.

You pay for the diagnosis not the test.

I was in secondary school in the 80s. School refusal was most definitely a thing, it just wasn't called that. I knew multiple kids just in my year whose attendance was patchy at best and as the years went on tended to get worse.

Looking back with an adult eye there were clear indications that they had chaotic home lives and/or learning difficulties of one form or other. What they didn't have was any support from the school.

You shouldn’t get any hate. It’s a question. Most are going to reply with an opinion anyway. So here’s mine.

i do think autism was around, im part of a few social circles and i have one where i think all of them are on the spectrum. Theyre old work mates and all share an awkwardness about them. Some of My husband friends wives are also definitely have some traits. Upon meeting one for the first time interrupted me saying she doesn’t do tedious small talk before walking off. I stood there and thought WTF. I had only literally met her and was talking about a camping trip we were all going on later that month. after that trip she had isolated herself from everyone and most avoid her now as she’s hard work. I just think she’s on the spectrum.

however I do believe it’s over diagnosed and also miss managed. I’m a SAHM so have taken both kids to and from school. I knew their class and have been an active mom with arranging play dates and helping fellow moms out with babysitting in school holidays & some of the kids with ADHD etc have the same thing in common. Absolute wet parents. No discipline, pandering and seem happy to have the excuse for bad behaviour. I have friends with kids diagnosed and I’ve been to their houses, playgroups and soft play and watched their toddlers bite, smack and scratch others with nothing more than a remember kind hands Harry as a response to it. No firm no, no time out just a thats not very nice, I watched a friends son bite a little girl on the face and when the girls mother came over she said well I didn’t see it (I had told her) and it’s to late to discipline him now. The girls mom wasn’t having any of it and told her daughter if this boy comes over to you ever again you’re to slap him and make a noise to get him away, (I dont agree with her before I’m attacked) but then it happened not 10 minutes after and her son came crying over as he’d been slapped and my friend was so upset and made a big song and dance approached the other mom and got a reply of I didn’t see it but if you can’t control your son she has to defend herself. She stormed off and left and was upset with me as I refused to comment either way.

https://youtube.com/shorts/WH5zYErWmAQ?si=c9pQUWEWpPT3GiBW

I am 61 and waiting on a diagnosis for adhd. I really struggled at school and did everything to stay home as I just couldn’t cope . Because I didn’t ‘get’ learning I was put into the classes with difficult kids, this made me worse as the noise and disruption was more than my sensitive personality could take . Fast forward to today I have found out what I’m good at and had a successful work career , never any problem getting good jobs . People don’t believe me when I say I left school with few qualifications. This in turn has given me the confidence I lacked as a child thinking I was just thick. an ADHD diagnosis will answer so many questions for me. It wasn’t until my daughter got diagnosed at 28 , I began looking at myself as we are very alike , her growing up as a child was like watching me . I never even thought about her having ADHD as even as recently as when she was at school it wasn’t recognised so much in girls

Because it was more necessary to mask when the teachers could still beat you with sticks for acting autistically. Girls were better maskers, so got on with being depressed and hating every second if it. Boys got in to trouble more and played truant more. Which would be called school refusal or ebsa now. It wasn't better.