to ask this without expecting a backlash?

While I’m sure they don’t cause autism, I’d be pretty confident they do ‘rewire’ brains and impact ability to concentrate, behave and operate in a classroom environment.

My own very adult brain operates better if I have a 6 week screens detox - I can only imagine the long term impact it’s having on neuroplastic children’s brains.

I know this is super tin hat of me (and probably negligent given I’ve not done any research in this area), but I do think screens and the prevalence of UPF must have had an impact on the increase in neurodiversity. A huge part is better recognition, but we talk now about examples of half a class being neurodiverse - even when we were ignoring it, it can’t have been that prevalent.

And this is not to blame any parent either - it’s a societal and capitalism issue, it’s almost impossible to live any other way.

I’m certain that people with Autism have always existed but it wasn’t diagnosed as a condition until the last century.

Teen DS has diagnosed Autism. It pretty obvious that his dad and I also have some degree of autism and the paediatric neurologist agreed it was highly likely. DH and I are both academic and worked in HE until retirement.

However, I’m 60 and I’m pretty certain my older brother 78 also has autism (he’s a retired mathematician) and I’m convinced my deceased dad had it too. He was born in 1922 and was in the RAF during WW2. He was an engineer and worked with computers in the 70’s when I was a kid.

This was something I only realised after DS was diagnosed as a lot of his traits follow the same behaviour patterns. Poor dad was an alcoholic and I assumed it was related to his wartime experiences but now I think it’s more likely related to being autistic.

I was born in 1974 and know I went to school with kids who would now be diagnosed with autism or adhd

they were the naughty kids, disruptive kids, sent to the bottom sets.

or they were the super bright and nerdy kids who learned to mask

or they were always in trouble for day dreaming or not paying attention

they were there

The kid with ADHD in my Mum's class was tied to a chair!

Slow, naughty, delinquent, truants.

Of course these things existed. What a ridiculous view.

I was born in 76 and looking back, there was definitely people with autism. It just wasn’t known

It's not THAT broad - you still need significant evidence in three different areas.

Diagnosis rates are somewhere between 1 and 2% and the autism charities think it should probably be around 5%. Comparable figures in other developed countries.

So 19 out of 20 kids even on the most generous assessment aren't autistic.

Let's face it, if the government weren't trying to detract from their woeful record on education, we wouldn't be hearing about this.

They are trying to make our kids scapegoats.

In my class, of around 30 children in the '70s, there were several people who seemed to be unable to function in the school environment. They weren't extreme enough to be sent to a "special school".

I remember E numbers being a thing, sunny delight anyone!!??

I'm a 1980 baby. The naughty kids I remember prob were/are ADHD, my brother being one and was diagnosed at 39 when being assessed for PTSD. There was not many "odd" kids but there was a clear "above intelligence geek" group who were likely autistic.

Sadly I think its a label being vastly overused, especially with access to private diagnosis mainly done by questionnaire, which detracts from the genuine in need children. I do still think and maintain that some children are just spoilt/naughty/parented badly rather than ADHD/Autistic.

I was born in 1965. When I was at primary school there were no children who needed any behavioural support or intervention in mainstream classrooms. There was a Remedial class which was mixed age and had about ten children in it. Most of these had learning difficulties such as dyslexia. So ten out of school population of 250.

At senior school there were no remedial classes and the school population was huge. Ten classes of thirty per year group, so 1500 children in total. In my year group I can think of only one boy who was identifiably autistic, and one girl out of 300.

That is no way comparable to what we see today. Yes, there is better knowledge and identification of autistic children, but that doesn’t explain the massive increase. It really doesn’t.

I have no idea what is causing it. Anything that gets mentioned is disproven. I do wonder about UPFs? Pollution? Plastic? I wish we knew.

I was born later, but same story. No one was bothered that I was somewhat strange and had social difficulties, because I wasn't disruptive and didn't find the academic side of school hard. Being autistic doesn't necessarily mean having SEND in terms of schoolwork, and to be honest I (especially child/teenager me) would have been angry if I had been offered help with the one aspect of life I was good at.

My (very successful) builder @ChubbyPuffling was told the same. He can read and write but got no qualifications (although he then left and got building ones). His sister is degree educated and works as a teacher.

Thank goodness his dad had a trade.

There were always kids with autism/ADHD etc at school.... there was a very strong routine based scheduling when I was at school in the 60s and 70s. I think this helped.

There was a lack of tolerance of difference and a refusal to indulge "poor behaviour" that did not help the kids who were somewhere on whichever spectrum, but to be honest, did help those who weren't, or had mild effects.
Nowadays there is much more inclusiveness which helps everyone in different ways.

I have misophonia which nowadays can be used as a marker for auditory processing deficiencies and inattentive ADHD. Would it have helped to have it diagnosed when I was younger? Who knows? Like any other kid, I learned my own coping strategies and got on with life. Sometimes a diagnosis is really helpful and medication or therapy intervention can help. Sometimes it is another burden to carry.

Learning difficulties were hard to bear - my brother had extreme dyslexia- he still cannot read and write at 56. There was a lot of undiagnosed dyslexia, and so few kids got any help. He was labelled an idiot. Told he'd never amount to anything. Kids and parents were just expected to accept that.

There is likely mor3 cases now as people with ASD are more integrated into society therefore more likely to meet with and procreate and it is hereditary.
However I am an early 80s child and I note that there were definitely ASD/ADHD kids when I was at school. Labeled as 'naughty' 'a bit odd' or 'thick' for their behaviour which nowadays would be met with more understanding.
Andthat's just the ones that my slightly higher than average Josephine hindsight can see, who's behaviour was quite obvious due to being disruptive or extreme.

There were probably more.

My father's first teaching job in 1957 was at a mainstream state school in Luton. His class was entirely special needs. He was a brilliant teacher and they had a lovely time . They were in a nissen hut across the playground from the rest of the school and he was left to it because no one expected much of them or cared what they were learning. Most of the children in the school went to work on the production line at the Vauxhall motors factory . My father's job was to help his class get a job anywhere they could. He later became the Principal Ed Psych of the county we moved to ( 1973) He took school refusers to school everyday. His entire job was leading a team of Ed psychs dealing with children with special needs. The difference was that most of those children went to special schools, either from the start or once they started showing signs. I was at secondary school from 1976. We were streamed into 4 sets . Below that was silver set and below that gold. The children in set 4 , silver and gold would have been classed then as ESN ( educationally sub normal) and most would have drifted away from attending school by 15. If you were in set 1, 2 or 3you wouldn't have had any contact with or disruption from anyone who had problems, they would simply have been removed ( and caned frequently by the headmaster). At primary school teachers kept the disruptive children at the front so they could be hit if they misbehaved. Boys were sent to the headmaster to be caned, girls were given the slipper ( a PE shoe on the backside). Children with issues have always been around. We just used to put them in special schools or beat them / exclude them if they were in mainstream.

I was born in 1980 and have autism, it just wasn't spotted and I didn't receive any help.

Several of my school friends are in the same situation (because even though we didn't know we had autism, we did know we were like each other and flicked together).

It is a good thing that dc are more likely to get support they need and the language to understand their experiences now.

Also TL;DR - DH (born 1966) has a very similar profile to our DC re neurotype but the school system he was in celebrated his academic achievements and didn't worry too much about his social communication deficits.

Same kind of person. Different era.

Born early 70s. I remember lots of children in my class with additional needs. Looking back I think one child had cerebal palsy, another had mutism, the one that sat next to me spent most of the day with his head inside the desk banging the lid on himself, one poor boy died of Leukemia (not relevant I know). One teacher, 30ish kids no extra help ..I have no idea what was going on, but that was just how it was. My friend was diagnosed with dyslexia in the late 70s and I think that (the diagnosis) was unusual. This was an affluent part of the South East. Looking back it seems incredible, I wonder what happened to them. I remember one very neglected child who the teacher humiliated for having dirty feet - I remember cringing even back then. I'm also appalled how some (not all) of the Jewish children were interrogated as to why their parents didn't like them being in our assemblies (where we sang hymns). Very different times.

I can also now see traits in certain people that have always acted in a different way to others and wonder if they are ND. It's awareness, this can not be a bad thing! I certainly recognise ADHD traits in myself (not saying I would reach the bar for a diagnosis). Times change, people generally do not.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5486522-to-ask-you-to-explain-send-funding-and-bankrupt-councils-to-me?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

I haven't the energy to contribute to YET another thread on this as I am too busy parenting my AuDHD child, teaching in a comprehensive and worrying about the implications of the White Paper (no offence to you OP; getting better informed is good) so I offer this recent 1000 post thread on the same issues that will inevitably be discussed by the more and less informed on your thread...

I was born in 1960. We all knew of classmates who had siblings who were 'sent away' - it was never made clear but we all gathered they were in institutions, so this was where the non-verbal and non high-functioning went. The rest of us were muddling along as best we could (I have ADHD, only diagnosed at over 60). We were the weird kids, the geeky kids, the kids with all-absorbing hobbies. I read continually and exclusively, this was my life. I had a few friends but was bullied for not conforming.

I grew up assuming I had bi polar disorder or similar but not wanting to say anything about the extreme depressions or manic behaviour because my mum would have clipped me round the ear for 'attention seeking'. I am among the lucky ones because I learned very early to copy behaviours to fit in. I'm still seen as a bit odd, but it's allowed now I'm older!

When I was in primary school (noughties), they were two children you could tell had high needs SEN. I felt bad for them as they used to get told off a lot.

Having said that, I have elder relatives in my family who you can tell are probably undiagnosed autistic so I think it’s always been around.

Probably a lot of the time it went undiagnosed as smacking and tougher discipline were more common.

I remember being really scared of teachers when they would shout and scream, even though it wasn’t directed as me. I presume it caused a lot of kids with sen to mask at school.

Autism has always existed but its definition is now so broad that IMHO is makes the whole "diagnosis" meaningless. I have an autistic child, apparently, but I'm not sure I really see the point of having the label. I'm the same age as you so maybe I'm also harking back to what seemed much more outcome based times and "in my youth" etc.

I'm a few years younger than you but I remember autism was known about, but only when it was extreme....non verbal, incredible architectural drawings or landscapes from memory. Basically Rain Man or nothing. Definitely no understanding that it could exist in a milder form or on a spectrum but looking back there were definitely children who I'd say were likely to be autistic. At the time they were largely seen as just weirdos.

In my 90s school, they're were 2 naught boys who would run away or climb into the roof. Even then the teachers recognised that there wasn't anything malicious or planned, they just couldn't be 'good'. I'm sure they'd be diagnosed with ADHD now. My siblings and I were the odd balls who found adults easier and now have diagnoses, but weren't autistic enough for the 90s, merely odd.

I'm over 50 and I'm on the spectrum, only found out about 10 years ago. I used to run away from school, struggled in classes, and would have benefited from SEND support, Without it, I was just told I'm bad, lazy and stupid.

In my class, there were other kids with obvious issues who were treated the same... so yes, it was around and no, it was undiagnosed.