Why so many ND now?

[Jumpking]

Had much with 4 friends yesterday. All the ladies told me they're waiting for ASD assessments for their children.

I know so many parents of ND kids.

I don't think I'm unique.

There was around 5 or 6 ND children in my primary school growing up. Now this is per class, minimum. The children weren't in special schools, they just didn't exist in such high numbers.

What do you think has been the sea change in our society that means there are now far more ND children than there were 30 years ago?

(And it isn't because they weren't diagnosed 30 years ago, or we weren't aware... There really weren't children in my school, or the school's of friends I've discussed this with, who had sensory issues, or clothing issues, or only beige and/or dry food, or toileting issues, or obsessive interests issues or all the other ND things which are so prevalent with children today)

I havent heard anyone on this thread say 'its upbringing'

There are some cases which might be misdiagnosed because assessors dont know enough about trauma responses and attachment disorder.

Another poster also pointed out how some assessors misdiagnose ASD when someone has brain injury. We know that severe neglect in children causes children's brains to develop differently to children who dont suffer the same.

As for why one child might be affected and siblings not, that depends on a whole host of factors (if the symptoms are not ASD but merely poor parenting), the ages of the child,, whether the approaches toward each child are exactly the same, is one child being scapegoated, is one child being abused and the others are not (a girl might be sexually abused within a home, the boys might not), depends on the child's own responses to their experiences.

Children without ND issues all respond very differently to the same environment, so its expected that children with ND would also respond very differentlly and this continues into care and adoption too once that parenting has been removed.

It's not correct that more males are affected than females, though.

Women and girls with autism present very differently to men and boys. They are generally much better at masking and therefore their behaviour appears to be more normal - making diagnosis a lot harder.

But even nowadays schools don't need to be nut free if there are severe allergies present - many experts actually recommend against it as it presents a false sense of security.

The reason many go nut-free is because they don't want to get the blame if an anaphylactic child has a reaction on school grounds.

@coffeecupsandfairylights interesting, thanks

It's not correct that more males are affected than females, though.

They're also a lot rarer in societies that have a large nut/peanut intake

I haven't "disputed both"

I simply stated that you can't define something as a "reason" when it is unproven. I said it was an interesting hypothesis.

Also just for the record- I had a very elderly relative born in the 1920s, who did not speak til he was six. When he did talk it was in a monotone voice. He was obsessed with cars and lived happily as a tinkering mechanic and farmer, with plenty of support from his brothers.

He also took a photo of the sunset from the back of his house every single night and kept them all. We found boxes of printed kodak photos after he died.

He certainly would have been diagnosed with something now.

Although I believe intervention is important, I also see the positives in just accepting people for who they are.

It's sad to see the lack of understanding on this thread.

It is wrong to state that autism, etc were not known 30 years ago. They absolutely were. My mother taught children with SEN going back 40 odd years, then called remedial classes. She taught children with dyslexia, ADHD, etc. One thing I will say is that until the mid 80s many children with SEN were unlikely to be educated in the mainstream school system. They attended special schools.

The taboo around being ND and SEN has significantly reduced in the last 20 years.

@Boymumsoymum

My sister in law used a wheelchair. She is lives independently, is a successful in her career, married with children, has travelled extensively and swims in competitions. I think you can call her successful and independent by any measure.

Do you think that she may have faced more challenges than someone who does not use a chair? That many things are just harder, more tiring and more complicated for her? Or do you think they because she has overcome those challenges she shouldn’t be entitled to any accommodations that makes her life a little bit less challenging, because she’s doing ok? Why would it be any different for an ND person? ND people are not you, they are different. And some things are harder. That’s the whole point. NT people like yourself insist ND people are medicalised to prove they are different, or you just assume they are weak and entitled. If they don’t have legislation to prevent discrimination, you exclude them, and to benefit from that they must be labelled. You insist on it.

I think most people have no clue how your brain works. Mostly it decides what it is safe to ignore. It takes in unimaginably MASSIVE amounts of information, processes it, and produces a response without your knowledge. What you actually are consciously aware of is a tiny, tiny part of that. It filters out the vast majority of it without you being remotely aware of it. If your filters are even slightly less (or more) efficient than a very narrow range, then you have an unimaginably harder time in life.

What you consciously sense and how you process it isn’t a character strength. You aren’t in any way cleverer or superior because your brain can block out information effectively. It’s a unchosen, biological fact. It’s not a character flaw you can and should overcome with a bit of hard work and a good attitude. I’m really short. It hasn’t ’held me back’ but my life is a little bit harder than average height people. Chairs are seriously uncomfortable (to the post where I can’t concentrate on a conversation around a dining table) shelves are unreachable, clothes are unbuyable, kitchens in particular are not built for me. I have to keep steps and cushions around. I have back problems and shoulder problems because I need to use muscles you don’t for everyday tasks. It’s no one’s fault, but I face challenges every day that have never crossed your mind, and yet I’m not disabled, am reasonably successful and rarely even mention it. It’s just a bit harder. I can’t ‘just grow’ I have to adapt my environment and people need to accept that. Neither me, nor society can just wish it away and pretend it doesn’t hurt I just suck it up, even though I do, and I neither get nor expect any modifications outside of my home.

The difference in how I manage in a kitchen with a lowered surface isn’t even measurable. But how it makes me feel, physically, emotionally and mentally is unbelievable. It’s utterly, indescribably life changing. I’m so much less tired. Sure being an adult is tiring. But being an adult in a suboptimal environment is MORE tiring. Please don’t invalidate diversity like that, you’ve no idea what it costs a person who doesn’t have NT advantages to perform ‘normally’ in a deeply sub-optimal environment. The fact that they are doing it even poorly is showing way more resilience and character strength than you could possibly imagine.

Of course, I fit in the bath. There’s a lovely bright side. But it doesn’t even begin to offset the kitchen-fatigue, just because there are some small, visible perks or provided benefits does not mean the constant, draining everyday struggle is outweighed.

OP, you mention nobody having any sensory issues or problems with uniform - when I went to secondary school in 2002 and needed to wear a shirt and tie, I was MISERABLE but I couldn't articulate why. I insisted on wearing shirts several sizes too big for me because I can't bear the feeling of tight clothes or anything touching my neck. And yes, I ate my lunch without issue but that's because I had a cheese and ham sandwich every single day for almost a decade.

Snap, except ten years earlier, the too-big shirts were summer blouses year-round (and the constant fear of being punished for it) and cheese and ham was fish paste! The inability to articulate really resonates.

No diagnosis of anything ND here - don’t know if I want to go down that route - so I don’t know what causes my sensory issues. I do know they exist, though. This thread has touched a nerve with me because it implies either that because nobody said anything 30 years ago the conditions didn’t exist (false logic) or (and this is worse) things were better in the old days because we didn’t make any concessions/fuss and people were just forced to sink or swim.

I was lucky in that I could swim. I was known as ‘unusual’, but because I behaved well at school and did well academically, no expulsions or dropping out for me. But when I look back at all the energy expended over angst about fucking ties or being made to wear a certain costume in the school play it all just seems so pointless and sad.

And to those who say if you get to adulthood without major issue, why would you care - because ties and lunch options became replaced with other seemingly trivial, but disproportionately upsetting shit in adulthood. Not going to say what here as it could be outing, but I’ve had problems in the workplace as an adult.

I've been wondering the same. DD1 was diagnosed with autism. Approx 20% of her class are either diagnosed or in the process. That seems a high proportion to me.

However looking back, I think at least two members of my family (now adults) also have ASD but have never been diagnosed. It wasn't really talked about or discussed years ago when I was at school.

"This means that a majority of humans are ND, not NT. It keeps us interesting."

That makes no sense because you're then saying 'typical' is a minority. You'd have to swap the labels around.

"There was around 5 or 6 ND children in my primary school growing up."

There were NONE in my primary or secondary school that I knew about.
I met my first that I am aware of in my 20s.

No one (not my teachers, not my parents, not even me) suspected that I was ND as a child. I was bright, happy child that didn’t have a special friend or friendship group but got on fine with everyone.

No one noticed that I took my snack into the toilet at break and came out when the bell rang. I went home for lunch every day to avoid school dinners but I wasn’t the only one going home for lunch so no one noticed. Reading my primary school reports now I can see that the teachers thought I was lazy, didn’t pay attention, wasted time etc. When I moved country and school at 14 It was the “change in education”, my “laziness” and “unwillingness to adapt” that caused my failure in tests and exams. Etc, etc, etc. No one at any of the schools I attended would look back and think I might have been ND.

My ex-colleagues think I’m so lucky to have been able to take “early retirement”. They all thought I was so good at my job. I was often envied for my cool head in an emergency and way I kept the whole place running smoothly. I know because they told me, often. They only saw calm surface not my legs paddling underneath trying to keep afloat and when you have children at home it’s no good waiting until you get there to have your meltdown so you have to keep on masking until something gives. And it did.

There will be many people out their like me and I’m so glad that my children are diagnosed so that they can get the help (or at least understanding) that I didn’t. Generally I don’t think that ADHD/ASD/DCD etc are being over diagnosed now. I think there was a failure to recognise it in the past. If I had a pound for every teacher, other parent or friend who has told me that ds3 can’t have autism because he is so clever, good natured, friendly, polite etc, I wouldn’t have to worry about the rising cost of living. He is now correctly diagnosed and if professionals can’t recognise it fellow pupils most certainly won’t.

Which is why, when I read OP’s like this I roll my eyes and want to scream!

I think there is an element of over diagnosis in order to justify over medicalisation pushed by drug companies.

Poor diet is also definitely a cause

That said they way we as teachers are taught to deal with anyone on the ND spectrum has helped me treat all students in a more caring and understanding way - particularly those who are ND. So I'm not opposed to the trend of increased diagnosis. Although I am opposed to medical interventions in all but the most extreme cases.

I think thats the gist of the thread!

What is typical and what isnt.

The general theory of ND being genetic is also still being tested, nothing is final about what we know about this. One day for example there might be a genetic test for ASD which would prove that one way or another.

I think the op is getting a lot of stick for questioning something that even specialists themselves are questioning. Nobody has all the answers., even the top experts don't know. All factors should be looked at, and there have been some surprising suggestions in this thread eg the amount of environmental stimulation there is now due to constant noise and flashing images which is starting to affect even some nt people.

Just because op didn't see any nd child doesnt mean they were masking anymore than saying they did not exist. Probably it was likely more specialist schools existing unlike now.

I am also in the pollution/chemical corner. Our foods have added chemicals, our drinks have added chemicals including tap water. Our cleaning products are all chemicals, air freshners and candles are chemicals, our carpets and sofas and curtains are sprayed with chemicals, the garden and our food is covered in pesticides etc, the list is endless. Add plastic via micro plastics in our food..could this be part of it or do we have something else in store for us in 30 years?

its intersting that you say "that i knew about" "that I was aware of"

I know adults who say yes they can cope but it's 'exhausting 'masking' all day at the office' etc.... Newsflash, life is quite tiring/overwhelming for everyone, it's all quite normal??

Still reading through this thread and I expect others have commented on this post already but Jesus fucking Christ. I never thought I'd see something like this on MN. No it's fucking not normal. Do you really think autistic people are making it up and moaning about things that everyone else just puts up with?

"My mother taught children with SEN going back 40 odd years, then called remedial classes."

Children in remedial classes didn't necessarily have SEN though. Some were just less academic and went into the remedial class when they fell behind.

@Aishah231

I think there is an element of over diagnosis in order to justify over medicalisation pushed by drug companies.

Tell me, what drugs are being punched to treat autism?

"its intersting that you say "that i knew about" "that I was aware of"

Yes, I'm not denying they may have been there, we just didn't know about them or were aware of them.
So from my point of view, there were quite a few at OP's school! Maybe she's younger than me.

This is not true. Babies were left outside in prams/put in playpens or to play in their cot while housework was done.

Those people who fell behind to the extent they were put in remedial classes were very likely to have had undiagnosed autism, ADHD, dyspraxia etc, though.

Not noticing that any children around you had difficulties with eating or sensory issues etc doesn't mean that those children did not exist. I realise this has been said many times on this thread, but I feel the urge to say it too. Why on earth do people think they know everything about other people just from their own observations? It's both ignorant and arrogant.