Massive increase of children with autism

[TickingKey46]

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?

And there are countless scientific papers published too - they will not be sourcing their data from anecdotal questionnaires… unless the subject of the paper is public perception of autism or something like it.

Again, your point is off topic.

People are discussing a genuine uptick in the number diagnosed and on waitlist for assessment. Neither of which are easily accessible.

Autism affects my daughter hugely tho if you met her you wouldn't know.

She won't go in holiday with us
She has anxiety
She has terrible trouble time keeping and organising
She cant at present hold down a full time job or school. Hoping that will change with age as she can do part time.
She suffers from rsd and odd which causes difficulty
She burns out
She goes Mute if we put too much pressure on her.
She suffers from insomnia

However if you met her for a day you wouldn't pick it up She is an expert masker. Hence the burnout.

Of course I would not choose that for her but now I know I can understand her and support her so much better and be her advocate.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the history of diesel cars being pushed as our saviours, when diesel fumes contain several of the strongest neurotoxins known to man.

Dying to know where you work @HeBeaverandSheBeaver

The more pertinent 'massive increase' appears to be in types picking on disabled families for sport. Tawdry stuff. I imagine there is some interesting psychology behind it?

@BingusTheCat
Let's just say

There's a train
A forest
A castle
An alley

If you know you know.

Me too. It's definitely not that.

I have been told before that I am brain damaged because I'm autistic, people who think that are pretty vile but to actually openly state it, completely odious.

Totally. There is a limited pot of money. Some need it more than others.

No. There are hard won civil rights which place an obligation on civil institutions to take steps to include disabled people who would otherwise be substantially disadvantaged. These rights should not be diluted. We should have proper provision for all disabled people and not be fighting over crumbs

I've read all the thread up to the post that is (hopefully) quoted which moved me to reply.

[Edit: It's not quoted, but it was @RosaGallica ]

I'm undiagnosed but fit the description above. I don't need or want to be taking resources from people with more traditionally understood autism but I do think people like me deserve more than the undemanding little jobs that many of my previous family members had to accept.

What told me that I needed to be fixed was relentless bullying in school because apparently I look weird just walking down a corridor, let alone speaking to anyone.

Considering myself to be neurodiverse rather than something that needs to be fixed is a better outcome for people like me surely? If I just believed what people told me in school then I really would be a drain on society's resources!

I hope school is better now, but I didn't risk it for my son. He's got tons of mates, both schooled and home ed, he just happens to be obsessed with ships and has hyper sensory reactions. An environment where people understand that has been amazing for him.

@Robinni I'm so sorry, I think I worded my post wrong. I didn't mean that people want their NT child to have autism, I was just talking about the parents who ask for referrals because their child puts their toy cars in a line but doesn't have any other symptoms. There are a lot of posts on here from anxious parents who ask if their 8 month old is autistic because they aren't waving yet or if their non walking (but meeting all other milestones) 15 month old has global development delay. I was a bit like that with my first, convinced every little rash was meningitis and assumed that my newborn dribbling a tiny bit of blood was some major problem when he had just swallowed a bit of blood from my cracked nipple when he was feeding.

Years ago there was a boy in my son's class who was autistic and had a tendency to run off if there were lots of people around so his mum was allowed to wait in reception at the end of the day and his ta would bring him to her. He would be calm and she could get feedback from the day in private. A whole load of parents decided they wanted to do that as well because it was warm and dry in reception with comfy chairs so much nicer than standing out in the rain. So they did, until the school locked the doors and banned them. Now it's much harder to get in and talk to the senco or pay for a new book bag or check lost property.

Then there are people like my BIL who take their NT dc to the "quiet" sessions at the trampoline park that are meant for children with ASD because it's £1 cheaper and quieter so he can read his book in peace.

I don't think anyone wants their child to have ASD, I just think that some parents worry and others want what they see as perks that some disabled children get, but without the disability.

Again really sorry if I offended anyone. Probably shouldn't have posted at 2am but I was trying to stay awake as I'd just put my child with adhd back to bed and wanted to wait and see if he got straight back out again. I also have 3 dc with autism so I know it's not something anyone would want for their child.

Why aren't out needs just as valid?

A whole load of parents decided they wanted to do that as well because it was warm and dry in reception with comfy chairs so much nicer than standing out in the rain. So they did, until the school locked the doors and banned them. Now it's much harder to get in and talk to the senco or pay for a new book bag or check lost property.

i do think there is often an odd sense of jealously of provisions made for children who need them.

ds has come in and out via school office since he was in year 2, he is in year 9 now. Post covid when parents weren’t allowed on site I was still allowed in (masked up etc) to collect and drop him at the office. This meant he could go into school, but other parents complained it wasn’t fair as they wanted to be able to go in too.

what is needed for one child, even with the same diagnosis, isn’t the same as what is needed for another so support needs to be individualised and not just given because. Some people seem to think that an autism diagnosis comes with lots and lots of support. It doesn’t it comes with lots and lots of fighting to get needs met.

Namechangedtoanswerthisone

So my severely mentally unwell autistic daughter who spent the last years pingoinging in and out of general hospital shouldn’t have had access to the government Keyworker scheme which is there to keep those with autism out of inpatient?You’d rather she ended up in inpatient which would be hugely detrimental to her and increased cost to the taxpayer?

I also have an autism diagnosis but cost the taxpayer nothing. I attend a large very cheap to run Teams support group which works to help those with autism understand their condition. It helps with understanding difficulties and developing strategies which in turn helps ND people stay in work and keep themselves well without the need for additional services. You’d like that to go too?

How do the above provisions impact others who need completely different services? And how would both groups of people being left to become a bigger drain in services help those with differing needs?

@elliejjtiny No worries. Perhaps things are different where you are but as far as my experience goes - you can not get a referral without pages of evidence from parents, GP and school. Our initial referrals were refused and we got letters asking for more information.

And you cannot get access to said perks without DLA paperwork or a diagnosis letter - I have both in my bag everywhere we go.

I hear you about the NT parents jealousy of carer tickets and the like. It doesn’t matter that their DC can swim, ride a bike, attend sports, attain at school, sleep, eat etc normally and have a future with good earning capacity ahead of them. Oh no, that doesn’t matter, they still want reduced price tickets etc 🙄

My point is any unsubstantiated claims are quickly shut down and do not contribute to NHS stats.

Exspelliarmus!!

Yes. Autie heaven DC fans from very young. Lucky you.

Agree @greyflannel by not supporting higher functioning you could be depriving them of a work life they are capable of with support.

If they get support they pay back in via tax rather than being a drain on the system which is altogether preferable.

Saying some deserve support more than others is not right and it stems from a neurotypical perspective of what autism is.

Just because an autistic person is for example verbal/capable of work, does not mean that they don’t have complex needs or struggles, there can be massive sensory and processing problems.

You wouldn’t say a person in a wheelchair was more deserving of support than someone with MS… you’d say they should get the support appropriate for their needs. Same applies with autistic disabled people.

In fact the impetus to have everyone categorised under one happy autism umbrella rather than aspergers, high functioning, low functioning etc came from low functioning individuals who did not like the terminology and distinction that they were less able…. You can’t win either way it seems!

@namechangedtoanswerthisone; to clarify are you offering to give up support you own autistic children have been assessed as needing?

Or just proposing to strip other people's disabled children of the help they desperately need and which the state says they are entitled to in order to avoid experiencing further disadvantage?

Harry Potter? That surprises me tbh, I didn't know it had a big autistic fan base.

Huge, they have all the HP Lego as well which might have something to do with it.

Some things are available without a diagnosis, like the quiet/SEN sessions at soft play and trampoline parks. There is a heavily subsidised sports club that my dc go to where you have to have SN or a medical condition and you fill in a form but you don't have to provide proof, like diagnosis letter or dla. Everything else you have to provide evidence of DLA or PIP. Sometimes even that isn't enough. My 9 year old has a letter from his consultant saying that he can't queue which I carry around with me all the time along with the dla/pip letters.

My eldest was referred for an autism assessment because I asked in 2010. The HV wasn't convinced he had it but she did the referral (or asked the gp to do it) anyway. The Dr went to see him in reception class at school and decided he didn't have autism because he chatted to her and told her who his "friends" were. Ds's definition of a friend at that time was whoever sat on the same table as him. He was eventually diagnosed with autism 5 years later. My 15 year old is on the waiting list to be seen at the moment and we and the school have had to provide loads of evidence to even get on the waiting list. Things have changed a lot.

Find anything that has a big, rabid fanbase, and you will find autistic people. Whether they know it or not.

Autism and fandom are so closely intertwined.

@CalpolOnToast thats an interesting question but for me and my children things have worked differently. We are considered weird in some parts of Britain, the narrow minded conformist places that are little short of socially controlled. We are perfectly acceptable in other places that are not so aggressively extrovert and quite normal on the continent, with its generally more intelligent societies. I moved away from such regions but was forced back by housing costs. In the past though being considered slightly socially odd was not held against me so much at work. Now it is held against me at work and I worry it will be held against my kids too. I am told that socialising is the most important thing to get on at work, I was told to socialise to get higher marks on a professional qualification and you can’t get jobs without knowing someone outside work. It is everything to do with cultural change and has got worse as the push to label has increased. It gives a medical credibility and excuse ime.

I now work with learning disabilities, and once you work with a few serious pmld cases you can really recognise cultural ostracism at work for people who are nothing worse than slight misfits in an increasingly totalitarian culture.

It is a fact that on the continent there are fewer diagnoses even among genetically similar populations. Introversion or the milder cases of autism are by definition not chemical or physical medical problems. They are social issues, aka cultural.

Alcohol consumption can be seen as self medicating nowadays. In France and Germany , 12 and 13 litres alcohol per capita was consumed in 2016 and in the U.K. ,11. (Who’d have thunk it). Maybe people self medicate more in Europe than in the U.K.
Maybe being ‘odd’ is less acceptable in society.
Also we are v influenced by English speaking USA which is often ahead of the game in health stuff. the continent might just be yet to catch up.