Page 11 | Massive increase of children with autism

TickingKey46 · 2023-09-09T07:56:30+00:00

I've noticed since the lock down there is a massive increase in children being assessed for autism and associated conditions. I mean massive. On the school run parents are often discussing it it's become so routine. I'm really interested in why. Why are so many children being diagnosed with this condition?

HuwEdwardsBottom · 09/09/2023 12:14

There was a boy in my year in secondary school in the 90’s who was quite blatantly autistic when I look back now. He was seen as ‘odd’, a loner with few friends, very poor social skills and would have the most horrendous meltdowns, screaming and crying. You can imagine how that went down with cruel teenagers can’t you? I remember one of our teachers telling us after he’d had yet another meltdown and we asked what was wrong with him that he was ‘just very highly strung’. He was also exceptionally intelligent was in top sets for every subject and got straight A*’s in his GCSE’s. The teachers didn’t really know what to do with him because he was too far clever for the lower sets where he’d get more help.

I’m not sure what happened to him but I now know from working with kids that he’s was highly functioning autistic and our school wasn’t designed to support a child like that. Hence the meltdowns.I like to think we’ve moved on. I hope we have.

Endlesssummerof76 · 09/09/2023 12:15

OriginalUsername2 · 09/09/2023 12:10

Why is Google funny? You can Google scientific peer reviewed papers.

I'm happy to DM you and explain how to search properly if you would really like to know.

Changeling78 · 09/09/2023 12:16

Changeling78 · 09/09/2023 10:59

Girls are more likely to mask autism by copying what their friends do. I imagine being socially isolated for so long meant they couldn’t do this so when they were allowed back to schools, they’d missed a lot of the social development skills that neurotypical children had developed in that time.

I forgot to make my point. 🙄
When returning into schooling and society they struggled, and the autism which had been masked before lockdown, showed itself, hence the rise in diagnosis since covid.

AutismProf · 09/09/2023 12:16

RedToothBrush · 09/09/2023 11:56

Country wide it's about a third more, but in urban and deprived areas way more.

This is notable I think.

That ISN'T consistent with middle class pushy parents actively seeking diagnosis - which would be more likely with a profile of over diagnosis and 'trendy awareness'.

In deprived areas, parents are more likely to be slightly younger - BUT possibly more likely to have had social issues in their own lives (including being less successful in life due to their own unmet educational or behavioural needs). And even then, they are still likely to be older in comparison to parents several generations ago AND infant mortality in deprived areas has been historically been much higher due to poverty related issues - free health care at point of service being the key factor here - children who in the past would have died, now survive. We take for granted malnutrition isn't the same as it was 100 years ago and the impact of that. (Despite the existance of food banks).

In the early Victorian Era, the infant mortality rates in some of the most deprived urban areas ran at over 40%.

So we are going to see massive demographic and genetic changes in society as a result.

People who perhaps couldn't historically provide and care for a family (perhaps due to a chaotic lifestyle related to autism and trying to survive) now have children who survive to adulthood and this is more likely to led to entirely new genetic lines surviving which didn't happen in the past.

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Respectfully disagree!
This is a spike in referrals not diagnosis
It is a direct result of schools observing behaviours in children who have returned to school after lockdowns.

I work in a similar northern city and it is our firm belief that most of the referrals are of children who have delayed language, communication and social skills for different reasons related to COVID lockdowns. Eldest and only children who had no interaction beyond the immediate family who have not learned negotiation or sharing and who find being in a large group overwhelming. Children whose parents were trying to work from home and instead of being stimulated at nursery or childminder they were sat at screens and literally ignored by parents trying to do zoom calls to clients (no blame to parents intended). Plus, as I said, older naturally inhibited children to whom lockdowns presented a respite from school, who preferred online learning, and who when the lockdowns continued so long lost their ability to face tricky things.

The factors you mention are all in the mix but do not imo account for the particular pattern of spikes we see.

Yellowlegobrick · 09/09/2023 12:17

People will all say there have "always" been these cases they just weren't diagnosed because we know more"

Yes and no. There's also been a huge widening of the diagnostic criteria to include as ASD behaviours that were not previously considered outside the range of normal.

Make of that what you will.

SnowflakeCity · 09/09/2023 12:19

And, specific to your post covid query - lockdown was extremely traumatic for autistic people, I cannot emphasise that enough!!

I don't get blanket statements like this? Not to the autistic people in my life it wasn't, they loved it. School online, chatting to friends online, work from home, more flexibility, no pressure to meet people irl, less feeling like they should be doing x,y,z when they really didn't want to. Perhaps it was traumatic for you/people you know but not 'autistic people' as a whole, just as lots of NT people couldn't cope but lots did.

HideTheCroissants · 09/09/2023 12:19

It’s definitely an increase in awareness. Our DS was diagnosed 10 years ago and at one of his assessments the consultant (gently) pointed out that to him, it was clear DH has ASD too but as a child he was just “shy” then as he got older “anti social, stubborn & rude” because ASD was never considered.

Even now there are people who insist ASD doesn’t exist - it’s just bad parenting or naughty children. My autistic son has never been naughty (his autism doesn’t present that way) and it can’t be bad parenting because DD received the same parenting.

Eskimal · 09/09/2023 12:19

LifeIsShitJustNow · 09/09/2023 11:54

happy to discuss more if you don’t understand what I’m saying…

Could you be more patronising @Eskimal ?

Sorry. Would’ve been better to say if I haven’t articulated myself properly, and there are lots of scientific articles I can link to to back it up if you’re interested.

Vilee · 09/09/2023 12:19

The one autistic person I knew when I was young was (and still is) totally non verbal and unable to do anything independently. Now I know loads of autistic children and adults, none of which you would know were just by talking with/knowing them. So the understanding of the spectrum has obviously increased.
Whilst the increased understanding and diagnosis’ is excellent, I do wonder though if perhaps it’s not helpful to have autism as a definition for something as wide a spectrum as that.

AutismProf · 09/09/2023 12:19

Yellowlegobrick · 09/09/2023 12:17

People will all say there have "always" been these cases they just weren't diagnosed because we know more"

Yes and no. There's also been a huge widening of the diagnostic criteria to include as ASD behaviours that were not previously considered outside the range of normal.

Make of that what you will.

Young people who are quirky but happy, who are perfectly happy (note, not masking their struggle) in their environment and with their expectations, and who are not struggling as a result of their "symptoms", should not be diagnosed.

Leafcrackle · 09/09/2023 12:19

LifeIsShitJustNow · 09/09/2023 12:02

Similar situation here.

But I think knowing they difference is essential.
Yes to SOME people it won’t make a huge difference at school/work.

eg we haven’t pushed dc to get a diagnosis but we found the right school/environment for him so he didn’t need a specific support schooling wise.
DH is/was the same.

However, having a diagnosis is highlighting a lot of other areas where dc struggles - mainly social ones. He also clearly needs to be shown things, given some sort of step by step idea of how things will go. Reminders that not everyone does things like him and how to spot that/see what works for them etc…
And further down the line, looking at DH, it helps explaining sometimes baffling reactions that could be totally misconstructed. Or his need for silence at the end if the day etc….

I think though that we haven’t quite understood what ND and NT are. And we might not have put the dividing line quite where it needs to be.

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Yes, it's social issues and some odd behaviour at home that prompted me to look for help for ds. He doesn't know how to make small talk or connect with people, but seems to bob along happily, gets on with his work and is highly articulate and informed, so he flies under the radar. But he has no idea how to navigate the pitfalls of other kids, is desperately unhappy and presents as very anxious. In a class of 30, in the school he's in, they're just happy he's not causing trouble.

Whyohwhywyoming · 09/09/2023 12:21

Yellowlegobrick · 09/09/2023 12:17

People will all say there have "always" been these cases they just weren't diagnosed because we know more"

Yes and no. There's also been a huge widening of the diagnostic criteria to include as ASD behaviours that were not previously considered outside the range of normal.

Make of that what you will.

What criteria are included now that weren’t before?

HideTheCroissants · 09/09/2023 12:22

And, specific to your post covid query - lockdown was extremely traumatic for autistic people, I cannot emphasise that enough!!

I disagree with this …. my autistic DS and my (believed to be autistic) DH absolutely LOVED lockdown. They found having to be back “out in the world with people” VERY traumatic because the lockdown made them realise how great life is for them with no requirement to interact with people.

LifeIsShitJustNow · 09/09/2023 12:24

SnowflakeCity · 09/09/2023 12:19

And, specific to your post covid query - lockdown was extremely traumatic for autistic people, I cannot emphasise that enough!!

I don't get blanket statements like this? Not to the autistic people in my life it wasn't, they loved it. School online, chatting to friends online, work from home, more flexibility, no pressure to meet people irl, less feeling like they should be doing x,y,z when they really didn't want to. Perhaps it was traumatic for you/people you know but not 'autistic people' as a whole, just as lots of NT people couldn't cope but lots did.

Fully agree there!!

In our family, the ND people thrive in an environment where they didn’t have to conform to norms that don’t suit them.
DH was way calmer wfh vs in an open plan office with 100+ people in.
dc was delighted to ‘miss out’ on all those social interactions he struggles with.

The one that had a hard time is my NT, social butterfly, dc!!

Americano75 · 09/09/2023 12:25

Secondaryschoolstress · 09/09/2023 09:06

Yes more awareness. I’m quite old (primary school in the 80’s) and I can now see quite clearly that some of the children in my very small primary school who were deemed ‘the odd kid’ were struggling with things like autism. And there was no support help or understanding by anyone.
similarly i remember one really naughty (but the kindest ever) child who was so disruptive and disorganised. Could never completed their work. Always getting told off poor child, and in hindsight the behaviour screams ADHD to me.

I think we’ll get to a stage (hopefully) where these things aren’t seems an neurodiverse or different. And we’ll come to an understanding that society is made up of a variety of different brain types and schools and society in general will start to reflect that. It’s a long haul but we’ve come a long way since 1980.

This is basically what I came here to say.

I also work in adult learning and some of the stories you hear, about the way they were treated as children by teachers would break your heart. I'm very glad things are different now, otherwise my own child would be going through the same experience now.

Whyohwhywyoming · 09/09/2023 12:25

Lockdown made me realise my son was autistic because all of the difficulties he was having in school and life were taken away for a while and he was able to live in a safe and controlled environment that suited him.

DS2 has ADHD, and it has been obvious that he has ADHD to every caregiver he has had since he started nursery at 3.

it’s easy to imagine parents engineering traits and looking for a clinical diagnosis until you have an actual real life child in front of you that very clearly is living that diagnosis and you have to do something about it.

Adifferentangle · 09/09/2023 12:26

I don't think it's just an increase in diagnosis because the number of non-verbal autistic children has increased massively so it's not just someone who would have been thought 'different' in the past. There simply wasn't that number of severe autism cases in the past. However, population has increased so perhaps it's just that?

LifeIsShitJustNow · 09/09/2023 12:27

AutismProf · 09/09/2023 12:19

Young people who are quirky but happy, who are perfectly happy (note, not masking their struggle) in their environment and with their expectations, and who are not struggling as a result of their "symptoms", should not be diagnosed.

Show quote history

And then when they encounter an environment where they are struggling, maybe as a young adult at Uni or once married and having a young family, what happens?

They think they are NT. Their partner/family think they are NT. People expect things they can’t do because they’ve gone over their threshold but instead of knowing this is what it is, the ND is told they are failing/bad people etc…

Is that a good alternative?

(And yes this is from personal experience).

DrinkingWineInBed · 09/09/2023 12:27

Non autism experts and goady fuckers assemble. 🚨

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 09/09/2023 12:27

I've been a teacher for nearly 30 years. In my experience, the number of diagnoses has increased exponentially, but leaving diagnoses aside, the number of children displaying behaviours (ranging from subtle to very obvious) typical of ASD has also increased exponentially. When I first started teaching, it wasn't that you saw lots of these behaviours but people weren't diagnosed. You simply rarely saw these behaviours. Maybe one in a school year. Now it's more like 3+ in a class.

Whyohwhywyoming · 09/09/2023 12:30

AutismProf · 09/09/2023 12:19

Young people who are quirky but happy, who are perfectly happy (note, not masking their struggle) in their environment and with their expectations, and who are not struggling as a result of their "symptoms", should not be diagnosed.

Show quote history

I agreed with this before but what happens when that changes? In my experience, with both my ND children, secondary school marked a huge change in both of them - ASD DS went from being quirky and happy to confused and miserable. ADHD DS went from being a lively, outgoing and friendly child who was allowed to walk around during lessons when he couldn’t sit still and have help when he couldn’t concentrate on writing, to a child labelled as disruptive. People love quirky little kids. They often don’t like quirky teens and adults.

AutismProf · 09/09/2023 12:31

LifeIsShitJustNow · 09/09/2023 12:27

And then when they encounter an environment where they are struggling, maybe as a young adult at Uni or once married and having a young family, what happens?

They think they are NT. Their partner/family think they are NT. People expect things they can’t do because they’ve gone over their threshold but instead of knowing this is what it is, the ND is told they are failing/bad people etc…

Is that a good alternative?

(And yes this is from personal experience).

Show quote history

You need to take it up with the writers of the ICD11 and DSM5. It's part of the criteria.

AutismProf · 09/09/2023 12:35

Attaching some graphics showing post COVID referrals spike. Just chose some random cities in North, midlands and South. Northern cities far more affected than Brighton by the looks of things.

Massive increase of children with autism

SnowWhiteAndTheTwoKids · 09/09/2023 12:35

Anyone else think it's also become a bit 'cool' to be ND? Suddenly an explosion of instamums who blame all of their crap parenting on their ND.

SnowflakeCity · 09/09/2023 12:36

Yellowlegobrick · 09/09/2023 12:17

People will all say there have "always" been these cases they just weren't diagnosed because we know more"

Yes and no. There's also been a huge widening of the diagnostic criteria to include as ASD behaviours that were not previously considered outside the range of normal.

Make of that what you will.

I have to say I do question how valuable it is to widen the criteria. Dh and ds have an asd diagnosis, dh did it out of curiosity after ds was diagnosed. Ds was diagnosed as a teen purely in case he needed extra help at uni. There are lots of people like ds and dh in his family. They have all found their way, they've found jobs that suit them, found lives that suit them. Most acknowledge that they are probably ND but see no benefit of a diagnosis.

Dh has certainly done nothing with his, he still works the same job, and lives the same life, he hasn't needed any support, nor has ds. Ds is thriving, he is in a school that suits him down to the ground, has a part time job that suits him, has friends that 'get him', is part of a band etc For both of them all the diagnosis has really done is made them take stock of what suits them and worked around that, like ds knew that working in a busy fast food place would be beyond him so got a job in a small music shop. Even prior to his diagnosis we parented him in a way that suited him because it was easy to see what worked and what didn't with him.

There is a lot said(even my sons shrink said it) about the world having to change for ND people and suggested ds should sit around and wait for that but really if the ND person or their parent sits and thinks about what works for them there is a place for everyone. ND people have always been part of society and most have found their place, I don't think it has to be medicalised to the degree that is. I think maybe more career support and more reflection on the fact that everyone is an individual with their own quirks that should be accepted both by the person and those around them should be done by everyone but I don't really see the point in a diagnosis for people like dh and ds that skate by just fine by listening to themselves and doing what works for them rather than what 'society' says should work for them.