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)

Very much the case.

I can think of at least 3 in my form who were labelled this way back in the 80’s. My own DS has ASD/ADHD and I feel so sad for my peers that they were just thought of as ‘bad ‘ums’.

Of course it existed 30 years ago. Our knowledge of the world has grown so much over time and we are more aware of theses things.

I have found out recently that I am autistic as has my sister, my nephew and brother. I would put money on other family members have it including my mum. It’s so obvious now. I have struggled my whole life and always felt there was something not right with me. I learnt to mask but inside I had crippling anxiety and struggle socially. I was very quiet at school and only had a few friends. I don’t particularly enjoy socialising now, I find it such an effort and struggle to know what to say. I am very lucky I have some good friends who accept me as I am.

I think you are very naive to think it wasn’t a thing. I’m glad those children are getting the support they need as otherwise life is not enjoyable.

This really. Although I do prefer the term 'languishing' to refer to myself

I wonder if there are people being mis-diagnosed, I say this as my twin DC's in the early 90's were diagnosed with autism by a local "specialist" . I was ready to believe this but my Dsis said I should seek a second opinion (she had several friends who had dc's on the spectrum) she thought their behaviour/problems were something else.
Through an organisation I belonged to I saw a doctor in central London who referred me to a team at the Maudsley Hospital, with whom the ds's spent the day with.
The final diagnosis/report was that they were not autistic and their problems were caused by them being identical twins....(long and involved report but it made perfect sense)
The whole point of this post is to suggest that there are all sorts of behavioural problems not all down to someone being on the spectrum.

I have ADHD, I had hypoxia at birth. But I must say screens make it much worse. I have to really limit screen use.

Can we please, please drop the "high functioning" label? I do understand what people are trying to convey when they say it but ASD is not a tiered diagnosis, the term is very othering within the autistic community and it can actually be pretty harmful to the people it describes. Let me explain:

I'm sure people look at me (married, articulate, doing a PhD, teaches at a university, drives a car, has friends) and assume I'm "high functioning" but it belies my difficulties and the fact that my support needs are actually quite high, behind the scenes. People don't generally witness this but my husband has to remind me to eat and shower, I suffer from burnout frequently, every day at work/uni feels like I'm firefighting because I can't plan ahead and end up completely overwhelmed and dropping balls everywhere. I sleep like shit; all but two of my friendships have crumbled because I'm crap at maintaining them; I piss my family off by being constantly refusing to attend events; I won't drive anywhere unless I'm guaranteed a parking space; I forget deadlines, appointments, etc; I lack any sort of executive functioning or planning. Some days I'm so overstimulated and anxious, I can't leave my house. If people continually referred to me as "high functioning", it could limit the amount of support I get day to day because the term assumes something about me that isn't true. Just ask the DWP

There are a lot of resources from autistic content creators online around this topic and they say it more eloquently than me!

But you do require less care than a "low-functioning" non-verbal, incontinent person like my nephew. So the labels are useful.

I think you expressed that very eloquently indeed and agree with what you have said.

So your nephew has high support needs, then. My friend's autistic sons also have high support needs, pretty much around the clock.

I have low-moderate support needs. My experience is not comparable to your nephew's but I am not "high functioning", especially not by NT standards.

@amusedbush I take your point which is well made and apologise.

I have used the term to describe dd's high academics and if I am honest it helps me to think of her that way. However you are right and bearing in mind the extent to which she has to bullet journal, set alarms and reminders, and rehearse a phone call or text, notwithstanding the fact that she needs huge help to stay tidy and keep things like laundry organised you are entirely right.

Thank you @ClinkeyMonkey

Absolutely and in fact there have been difficulties caused by the change in wording in terms of diagnosis. Years ago there used to be a differentiation in diagnosis to try to clarify what difficulties a person had, so aspergers or high functioning or autism. Now its all the same, ASD, being 'on the spectrum'

I think, and many professionals and families I work with find this unhelpful because we are all on the spectrum.

Lots of people have the diagnosis from years ago still anyway. Its their diagnosis

You have been deleted (more than once) because you are repeatedly making ignorant and offensive comments about a section of society who are protected by law, and furthermore highlighting yourself to have absolutely Not A Fucking Clue.

I can relate to almost all of this!! But I'm seeking out a assessment / diagnosis for ADHD. Have you also been assessed for that? I've completed ASD online assessments before, but generally score quite low on them and very high on the ADHD ones. I do wonder if my son has ASD though. Im be very interested to hear more about your diagnosis.

Also there seems to be a LOAD of ND responders to this thread. Wish you'd all pop over the the Neurodivergent Mumsnetters chat page on mumsnet. It's not as active as I wish it was. I'm not sure if it's new, but I've only just discovered it a week or so ago. It's a great resource though!!

@hellrabbitishere

it was one and i really dont give a monkeys to ask why either , i expect its because if one types something that might get the snowflakes fluttering like a blizzard then its got to go , its interesting how speech is meant to be free , but only if it doesnt upset the delicate people and then suddenly its not 😂

It was 2, for ableism. I see you are still displaying it...

Thanks so much for your reply, it's really balanced and kind. I really appreciate that

P.S. I'm with your DD on the cleaning/laundry front - I can't keep a tidy house for love nor money!

@adhdforme

Yes, I have combined subtype ADHD, ASD, dyslexia and dyspraxia. Full house!

Labels are helpful gorgeous the reason the pp suggested.

Also the able to communicate section of the autism community cannot represent those who are unable to communicate as they have no idea what life is like for them. It is unreasonable to suggest that just because someone/ one group has the same diagnosis that their views should represent all of the autism community. It is a case of those who shout loudest and unfortunately those who cannot communicate and depend on others 24/7 have their needs very under represented.

There is a huge call for those with profound autism to have a separate diagnosis so that their needs can be met.

There is a vast difference to someone who wil require 24 hour care for the rest of their life, have very limited communication,not able to sit formal qualifications, wouldn't be able to have a relationship, requires hygiene support etc to someone who has a PhD and is able to articulately argue a point of view on mumsnet. That isn't to say you don't have needs just that they are not anywhere near those of the profound autism group.

Hmm, it's comparing apples and oranges IMO.

Someone with autism that attends mainstream school and goes on to hold down a job isn't necessarily high-functioning, it just means their autism presents in a way that allows them to "fit in" to society.

Your nephew has a more severe form of autism and needs a different kind of care due to his physical needs, but him needing physical, round the clock care doesn't mean that other people don't also have high needs - it's just their needs are different.

IMO getting rid of the "Aspergers" diagnosis was a huge mistake - Aspergers and Autism are not, IMO comparable conditions, even though they both fall on the same spectrum.

But the label belittles the amount of help we need. Just because I can talk, doesn't mean I don't have issues.

"High functioning" is the way others see us whilst ignoring the difficulties we have.

IMO getting rid of the "Aspergers" diagnosis was a huge mistake

Hans Asperger was a Nazi who took part in eugenics. He studied ND children and split them into tiers, then those with higher support needs were euthanised. That's where the AS diagnosis originated from so I'm pretty sure it's a good thing it was scrapped.