Is everyone, everywhere ND - I seriously am confused.

I was born in the seventies. We had violence from our parents and teachers, violence in the playground, fights between pupils on the way home.
Kids were scared of adults, but we still had disruptive pupils in class who couldn't cope and threw things, despite being caned regularly
I was too scared and quiet to act out at school so acted out in other ways, I wasn't coping either
I think most cases of ASD/ADHD are genuine, a few may have read too much about it on Facebook, and jumped on the bandwagon, but like anything, over time, it grows exponentially, the population has grown massively, and like other posters have said, ND people now meet and have kids

Fashionable? Are you serious?

Parents are legally allowed to choose mainstream and if they choose mainstream (and many do) then that preference has to be respected.

i agree there are not enough places for those who choose special school.

Well I behave as expected by anyone who employs me as I am paid to do a particular job. I don’t express personal or political opinions. I just worry about slipping up in my dotage.
I am frequently asked back.
I’m not sure why you feel it necessary to be so sarky and unpleasant towards me when I’m being honest.

I'm pleased that people can get the help they need. However overdiagnosis is rampant. I've had ADHD like symptoms since early childhood, but they seem to be more related to anxiety and above avg iq than actual ADHD. Finding strategies to deal with the symptoms helped way more than taking meds, which gave me worse anxiety attacks. I've also had people suggest I'm autistic because I was socially awkward as a child, which is silly - lots of people are socially awkward growing up due to lack of confidence and poor self-esteem.

I have a friend I knew from uni who, in his 40s, has received an autism diagnosis. His behaviour has changed to fit the diagnosis and is much worse as a result. It's put a huge burden on his wife. They have also diagnosed 2 of their kids with autism which is also bogus. On a trip to visit them, he suggested my son is probably autistic because he is a slightly picky eater. I mean jfc have you met kids? I work in childcare, if picky eating means you're autistic, then nearly every child in my care is autistic.

No you weren’t you were being unpleasant.

Well it’s certainly increasingly common and I think a number of people have jumped on a bandwagon and expect their employers to make allowances.

Well I was at school in the 70s and certainly didn't have any of that with kids throwing things etc. They would've instantly been thrown out

No they don’t. Many hide it.

What do you want? The disabled in work with measures that help them stay in work or on benefits?

Agreed. A 1950s classroom was perfect for autistic children.

I disagree.

Because you're being ignorant and discriminatory and claiming like you're doing other people a favour.
It's equivalent to someone saying that they don't agree with people employing blacks and you're going to leave soon because you can't keep your mouth shut, what do you expect, a round of applause?

I experienced it in the 70s.

My great grandfather would have been diagnosed with ADHD.
He was born in 1880.

His diet contained no additives (they weren’t really around in the 19th century and all food was home grown. He was mainly vegetarian as there was little money to spare for meat.

Walked to school (again cars were for the very rich). After school he had jobs to do

So if a child doesnt have access to food with additives in, a car , screens, and had plenty of exercise etc and has ADHD. Then what do you think causes it?

That's absolute nonsense, it's increasingly common for a number of reasons. And why do you think people shouldn't expect reasonable adjustments to help them do their job?

Maybe I went to a better school that didn't tolerate that behaviour

My husband is 29 and autistic and has ADHD. He was none verbal until the age of 9, would hit himself, make noises, fight etc. He wasn’t permitted in school and this was in the early 2000’s! I imagine it was even worse in the 70’s. These kids existed, they just weren’t allowed in school. They sent him straight to high school and he obviously failed pretty much everything because he had no school experience at all. I know this is true because we did a SAR on his medical records and it was all documented in there.

Do you know how long it takes for parents to take a local authority to tribunal to secure a specialist placement when the LA refuse to provide one?

The current wait time for a hearing is 12-18 mths

That's after a minimum 12 week annual review process which gives you the right to appeal. That 12 weeks assumes your LA complete it in time - the vast majority do not. So that's a min of 12 weeks but could be anything up to a year later, depending on how knowledgeable parents are and if the complaints process works to move things along, or if they can afford legal action to speed it up, or if they just end up waiting for the next review or the next review comes around quicker than than the local government ombudsman deals with their complaint.

Then there's a wait for a mediation certificate or mediation meeting. That's anything from 3-30 days.

Then waiting for your appeal to be registered, should be 10 working days but can be more like 15-20 because they're so overwhelmed.

All in all you're looking at 16/17 mths minimum - 2 years +.

All the above assumes the child already has an EHCP, if they don't you can add another 6-18 mths on top of that to get the EHCP in the first place.

You haven’t got autism or ADHD. Those that have find diagnosis and medication hugely helpful. Medication is helping my children access education , it has also helped them access therapy and treatment. Their diagnoses has helped them to have treatment adjusted to their ND needs and helped them when in hospital and also to access support. Both have also helped them to stay out of hospital and move on from tier 3 treatment/ support.

You really do not know that you’re talking about.

Ultimately, there is not going to be a consensus on this matter. People have their opinion on it and that's that. All I hope is that the number of people relying on benefits for mental health issues, autism an ADHD is not going to continue to increase so significantly that it won't be sustainable any longer.

Diagnosis or not, we need a working age group that can work and be productive.

What do I want? Well what I EXPECT is for people to do the job that they are paid to do without using their so-called ‘neuro-spiciness’ as an excuse for not meeting deadlines, being absent, not behaving professionally and generally not being a useful team member.

Comments like this shut down debate and honest talk.

The OP has written sensibly and fully as to her feelings and experience.

Calling people "goady" because you don't want to engage is, to me, very goady

Of course Neurodiverse people existed back in the 50s, 60s, 70s etc. They just often had different labels then, they were considered odd, strange or naughty… It would be the man who was always at the bus stop at the same time every day who might strike up a niche conversation about the bus timetable, or that child in the playground who repeated the same word over and over again who the other children just thought was a bit annoying. I know which ‘Label’ I would rather my son have. It’s incredibly difficult parenting a child who is neurodiverse whilst fighting for every single piece of help and education that they are entitled to, to try and ensure they have their best life. And until you’ve laid awake into the early hours considering what will happen to them when you’ve gone, with respect, I don’t think you’re in any place to judge parents for whom this is the norm.

What are the reasons do you think?

@ThisWiseRobin I wonder if in those days, people were simply terrified their children would be written off / segregated / sent to (in their eyes) bad (special) schools or instutions and this would reflect badly on them as parents, so they did everything in their power to avoid a diagnosis.