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 read an interesting article a few years ago about how ND people were meeting in jobs that typically attracted ND people, like tech jobs. These ND couples are having ND kids. DH and i are both ND and unsurprisingly so is our child.

It does happen. You might not want to believe that but it does happen.

During the assessment process the key information is from the parents, triangulated with information from school, observations of the child etc.

Dependent on what the parents say and how its framed will influence the assessor, particularly with private assessments. School can only talk about what they see and if a child has developed maladaptive responses to situations some of those traits and behaviours can overlap with other causes for behaviour.

I dont say its the vast majority but it does happen.

I work with families who generally have very abusive/poor parenting to the child so there is often a need for the parent to 'prove' that the child's behaviour is down to something inherent in the child rather than their parenting, so I will see this more than other people who dont work with this demographic.

You do know there are criteria which must be met for a diagnosis of autism? Very few of them relate to the common 'traits' too.

I’m 39 and it makes me so sad to think back to my primary school in the 80s where children, who I can see now were ND, were treated so badly.

Some children were treated appallingly by the teachers, and then this was picked up by classmates who mirrored the behaviour.

It was just awful. Today, you’d hope that a school would work with parents to identify issues, and support towards a diagnosis, making accommodations to ensure the child gets a fair shot at education.

Back then though, in my school, any children who needed extra support were not given it, and were treated as a nuisance by the teachers.

It’s great to see we’ve come quite a way since then.

Going back further than the 80s, I have uncles who are in their 70s and 80s now who are clearly candidates for some investigation along a diagnosis for autism or ADHD, but again it just wasn’t a thing when they were children. Instead they were just considered odd or not very bright and often put into jobs that just kept them out of people’s way,

Oooh that’s a really interesting hypothesis @EllieQ. Thanks for bringing that up. Whenever I’m in the London Underground I deliberately shield my eyes from the ads on the escalators, especially if they’re animated. I realized a few years ago that processing all those images rapidly made me very anxious and overwhelmed.

No, it hasn't helped.
She is still the person she was, who struggles on a daily basis.
Her being autistic has brought her no peace or understanding.
Yes, it bought her 10 minutes more per GCSE exam but it hasn't helped her actually getting into that building to sit the exams.

So you may have gained peace, my dd most certainly hasn't.

@adhdforme

Please don't spend the rest of your life with such a horrible man.

If it's a spectrum and more than 50% are on it then how can it be considered a disorder? Surely if it's so common it's just a normal human trait. Where does the boundary lie between just personality and a disorder?

"Groupings did emerge, but they were along totally different axes. Added Halladay, “The brains themselves were more similar based on cognitive ability, hyperactivity, and adaptive behavior.” In other words, the brains of mildly affected autistic children looked much more like the brains of kids with ADHD than they did like those of severely autistic children."

I was discussing with the other poster about those with mite profound needs not getting the services they need because the diagnosis is so vast and the need for a different distinct diagnosis for those with more profound autism. If duplicated this research gives a medical basis for that and could bring into question the autism diagnosis as not all people with the diagnosis will have the same changes to their brains.

I believe what she is saying is that those with autism that mild effects them have more in common with those with adhd than those with profound autism from a brain scan pov.

Often if you have an autism diagnosis you will find the depression diagnosis was incorrect, the medication was incorrect and any therapy was also incorrect. I don't know much about OCD but anxiety and autism very commonly come hand in hand - understanding the reasons behind anxiety is key to helping get through the day. If autism is the reason, we need to know about it.

I'm not saying that there is many many children with autism and nd who's parents want a diagnosis to help their child, as you clearly have. I'm saying that a lot of people now see it as an excuse not to parent, and that is very true. The parents using 'assesment' to get away with bad parenting obviously wouldn't pay private to get a diagnosis so Obviously my post wasn't about you 🙄

There has been an increase in the number of ND children coming into the nursery over last three years. When I started eight years ago we had one child with autism in the nursery. Over the last three years we have had at least four in the setting at once as well as others awaiting diagnosis for ADHD. There has also been a jump in children with behavioural issues and speech and language delays. It isnt just where I work many settings have observed the same. I think it's more than just that we are more aware, there is an increase and when you know what to look for it is clear which children may be ND even from babies or young toddlers prior to them being assessed.

My fathers in the 70s in the clearest case of Asperges of ever seen in my life but of course at school he was just naughty, an idiot, in capable of holding down jobs in his 20s, had to go into the family business because they were the only ones that could possibly tolerate him.

They were always there, they just lead miserable lives.

I mean autism and ND was generally only studied in boys. So the recognition that ASD and ADD present differently in girls is also likely to have increased numbers.

There's a decent amount of women online who have been diagnosed in adulthood who were missed 30 years ago.

@NiceTwin

I'm sorry you feel that way and I'm sorry your daughter isn't ok with her diagnosis. I would suggest when she comes to terms with it then her view might change. Yes she is the same person, a diagnosis was never meant to change who people are? Just understand why and be able to offers ways to make things easier. Even if it's not helping now she might find going through adulthood that it does exactly that.

Girls present more subtly plus as pp have said it was seen as bad behaviour. Anecdotally I think partially parents swept it under the carpet I now know that mine did with me.
Cases probably have risen too though. People having children older could be one factor and there are likely others

They did exist, nd is a spectrum and you can get a diagnosis at a much lower threshold now plus we have a tendency towards wanting "a name" for things now whereas growing up someone was just shy, quirky etc. my exh is nd but no diagnosis as is my now dp - back then kids could be different with an encyclopaedic knowledge of aircraft specifications without being marched to a doctor.

My dd is diagnosed with autism because she had significant speech delays as a toddler, I personally wouldn't seek a diagnosis for those in mainstream school unless they needed significant help

Ps I was only diagnosed as having dyslexia at 40 when my dd was diagnosed!

We're only just over a 100 years into a concept of autism/ ASD and it changes all the time. In another 100 years it will have different traits/criteria/understanding and possibly treatments (theres no treatment for ASD although some people are medicated for ADHD)

Therefore its a very new and not very well understood disorder. The current understanding or recognition of this will change.

Now that the covid pandemic has calmed somewhat, the armchair virologists and epidemiologists have no doubt had to find a new job.....and here they are, armchair psychologists and therapists. Some people just insist on chatting shite. There are many studies on this subject, they obviously should have saved their money, time and expertise and just asked the mumsnet armchair experts. 🙃

This is also a factor. ND people meet ND people. They have ND children, it goes on and on...

For those asking who diagnosis matters as an adult, I got mine in part as my children are ND and I wanted them to see someone else with their labels being open about who they are. What I hadn't recognised until I got my diagnosis was that subconsciously, having a professional confirm what I knew was immensely life changing. My mental health journey with my perfectionist tendancies, imposter syndrome, depression and many other things started improving hugely once it was confirmed by the professionals even though I thought I was doing well with purely self diagnosis. My brain is wired the way it is and that is therefore who I am as a person, it helped me accept myself and become more comfortable with who I am. It is a huge journey though, reframing my entire past through a new lens was and still is a long journey in self-discovery, self-acceptance and I am incredibly glad I did get the official diagnosis. Also getting an official diagnosis leads to support in work, life and adjustments which people wouldn't get otherwise as being disabled comes with stigma but also comes with community, support and is a protected characteristic. At the end of the day the word disabled means that you are navigating a world not designed for you and your specific needs. The world around me and people disable me due to my conditions, disability isn't a bad word and being open about who I am helps to break down those stereotypes and stigmas.

I went to an excellent school but they completely missed I had ADHD even though nowadays it would be incredibly, glaringly obvious. Another girl in my year has since been diagnosed as dyslexic. We are in our late forties. I don't think those diagnosis were common then.

Source? If the child doesn't show traits of being ND, they wouldn't be sent by their GP for assessment.

It's not just parents supposedly trying to diagnose children with things they don't have. At college, we did a screening for Irlens Syndrome and Dyslexia. I came back as being borderline. (it was done on the computer; so doesn't take into account other disabilities) I was then told this means I'm Dyslexic and I'm not visually impaired, despite being registered as partially sighted. I had an assessment just to prove I wasn't. The assessor agreed that I don't have Dyslexia and every issue I have, (I can't for example be given a pattern and copy it or can I tell you what's in the picture) is down to being visually impaired.

They also tried to diagnose me with anxiety and said I can't be Autistic. Funny how my sister who has a masters in psychology and lived with me for 18 years, would disagree.