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?

No they're not. The mainstream school system is not cut out for and cant deliver the support that children really need and I include all children in that, not just children with ND disorders

The lack of specialist provision, either within a mainstream site or within a specialist school is hugely detrimental to all children. And teachers.

i think you need to provide some actual figures here because I dont think there has been a ‘massive’ increase so as to make it ‘routine’. There aren’t many children with autism diagnosis in our large secondary. It’s pretty clear from figures that some groups are massively underrepresented in diagnosis and they are misdiagnosed or have poorer quality of life so if those are being diagnosed that’s a good thing. Also ND people tend to be drawn to each other so if you have lots of friends with ND children perhaps you’re a ND family?

I have two autistic children. They are very well behaved! I wasn't looking for an answer for "naughtiness"

My older son was diagnosed at 2.5, he will never live independently (he's 21 now, I still have to walk him to college, he can't go out on his own)

My 16 yo was diagnosed at 8, he also has adhd, inattentive type, so although he's not particularly hyperactive his concentration is basically crap! School weren't bothered about helping him though as he wasn't disruptive, he'd just sit in a daydream, then get in trouble for not doing his work.

After my youngest was diagnosed I realised reading the list if traits was like reading a list of my life. I was finally diagnosed at 44. It answered so many questions about my life - why I struggled at school, especially the transition to secondary (where I had that much trouble I saw a child psychologist there, though as far as I know nothing ever came of it) why I've always struggled in life with jobs, people, anxiety, housework, everyday life.

I wish I'd had a diagnosis as a child, I'd rather that label than the ones I did have - lazy, slow, stupid, unorganised.

This is all really informative and interesting, thank you.

I imagine it's a range of factors...
Increased awareness and diagnosis of people who would have been missed.
Less stigma so parents more willing to come forward for assessment.
Adult awareness and increased adult diagnosis.
Society has undergone immense change and pressures which make parenting and raising children a more challenging role. I do wonder if more children with a potential for developing autism are being triggered to developing it because of these pressure.
Misdiagnosis by overwhelmed medical services.
Misdiagnosis of children who actually have a trauma response rather than neurodiversity..

This is absolute rubbish and frankly offensive towards those of us with autistic children

Autism can be genetic, so it’s very possible that their fathers have autism too and started doing drugs as a coping mechanism or were coerced into it.

I used to work in a prison and they say at least a 1/3 are classed as ND and the actual number is a lot more.

I now work in a SEND school and can easily see how much students could end up in prison or doing drugs etc if not given the right support because they are so vulnerable.

Other ND like ADHD can be gotten through trauma in childhood or it can be passed down if their parents have trauma.

Absolutely, Im so tired of this ridiculous notion that a child with ND is never 'naughty' in the traditional sense

All children are children first, they are not their disability, and all children are growing up, testing boundaries, undererstanding their place in the world and out of that comes the natural inclination of any human, child or adult, to see what I can do here, see what I can get, even if Im not allowed.

Its normal natural behaviour that all children exhibit whatever their disabilities.

@Toffeebythesea Indeed. Apparently we’re all cokeheads, drank during pregnancy, and can only interact with other people online. Charming!

Yes that might be the answer re environmental factors or lifestyle factors.

I find the theory on autistic people reproducing more really interesting. These days a typical autistic male with no obvious co morbidities is likely to be in a high paid tech sector job, making him more attractive to a potential mate. Digital communication may give him a voice and a social outlet, and women are more assertive now and honest about relationships and sex so the 'first move' isn't all on him. That man 50 -100 years ago would be a wierdo who couldn't socialise in a low paying job or maybe religious institution and therefore not reproducing.

Ds is in no way naughty. He may sometimes lash out when he is overwhelmed but that isn’t him being naughty.

he is actually exceptionally well behaved and in school he is a stickler for the rules and never gets in trouble. Helped by the fact he is exceptionally well supported in school so is able to get away from situations before he becomes overwhelmed

Autism is highly familial and in previous times non verbal children who communicate in shouts or other sounds would have been tucked away out of sight in a 'Special School' or residential care. Many of these children are cognitively on a par with peers so are in mainstream schools.

Children with ASD diagnosis for other reasons would never have been thought of as autistic 10 years ago. Education seems to be moving away from a blame culture where 5 year olds are labelled as 'badly behaved'. Seems to be more understanding of nuances and what the spectrum actually means. I'd say 50% of the classes I've taught are neuro diverse and very often by far the most bright, creative, inventive children. I wonder if we will see neuro diverse just being the dominant mode and neuro typical being odd. It can look like neuro typical kids are just the ones who conform easily but are masking all the time, some confident, some not.

We need the clever, outside the box thinkers, creatives and our expectations of tiny kids needs to change. Following instructions and being pushed to academics too soon is unhelpful. Kids with the wide ranging talents autistic children have are the game changers.

People with autism and complex needs deserve to be understood in the right setting for them too. But the huge diagnosis rise I think is a sign of understanding increasing but still seen as different.

Maybe they are the norm. Look at any game changer, Einstein, Mozart, Steve Jobs etc etc all autistic.

I'm sure I've read a that there is a link between adhd and parents smoking weed. Certainly the few children I know who have adhd have parents who were heavy weed smokers. maybe there needs to be more research into this ? Just saying because weed is everywhere and it just seems to be normalised for people to smoke it.

Could it be the increase includes some misdiagnoses due to the impact of lockdown which is presenting in kids in the same/ similar way to autism but is due to environmental factors. Maybe it doesn't matter and maybe the support required is the same. It is interesting though.

Some yes, but definitely not the majority. Very few of the children in the EYFS/ primary department of my special school have any diagnosis other than autism (ignoring ADHD/ sensory processing disorder etc which fall under neurodiversity or medical issues such as constipation, allergies etc).

We do get the odd child with a dual diagnosis (eg: Down’s syndrome and autism) and I think it’s likely in the past many of these autism diagnosis may have been missed, but for the vast majority of our children autism is the sole or primary diagnosis. Some children may have been diagnosed with global developmental delay rather than autism in the past but we certainly didn’t see the number of children with GDD when I started working in special education almost 20 years ago as we are seeing with autism now.

My DS is on the pathway to being diagnosed but i now see my entire family has some element of ND, the world is also harder nowadays for those who dont fit the mould so those who struggle stick out more.

Aah more drug taking thrown into the mix as a reason ffs 🙄

It's shocking that you're so uneducated considering the people you work with. We are very far from over diagnosis of Autism and ADHD - in fact in the UK approx 1 in 7 people are neurodivergent but only a small number will have actually received a diagnosis.
This is because of lack of research, a lack of acknowledgement that women and adults can be neurodivergent ( e.g. previously it was thought ADHD disappeared in adulthood), a lack of funding for diagnosis and also a culture of fear mongering and ableism against people who seek diagnosis.
Posts like this are a problem because they continue this idea that too many people are seeking help and it prevents those that need it from getting the help. Please stop reading the daily fail and do some research from charities and resources that actually understand neurodivergence.

Lack of social mixing during formative years and so when mixing occurs more anxiety around it. Parents seem more anxious nowadays than previously and children pick up on parents. There is genuine anxiety and then there is 'I feel anxious to' often from children who feel the need to fit in with others when they talk about things and join this new group.

Autism, now more awareness and ability to diagnosis a far bigger part of the 'spectrum' so form people who are profoundly and dreadfully affected by their autism (life long care and support needs) to the ones who barely seem to have any effect from being 'autistic' and talk about it all the time and wouldn't change it for the world.

Yes, for the past 15 years or so
Not the case for this post COVID spike.

We have had a quadrupling in referrals in my city. We think it's partly an impact of lockdown on young children's socialisation, language and school readiness. And partly a big spike in anxiety and "withdrawal from coping" in temperamentally inhibited young people who found lockdowns a respite at first but then, when they went on too long, found it harder and harder to resume the things they once did. Some of that cohort will be autistic, and some not.

There's also compound anxiety where children missed core soft skills (eg milestone trips and events marking transition y6-7) and curriculum content (not the knowledge as much as the underpinning skills - learning how to write an essay, or how to organise your thoughts in a paragraph) and the government has expected them to plough on and not really given the opportunity to re-cover those skills.

Same for any drug, caffeine is a huge stimulant that affects the nervous system so it follows that weed or the additives in it and nicotine are dangerous. IMO the biggie is alcohol, fetal alcohol syndrome is really prevalent, it's misunderstood and not what people imagine.

There is no definite link between ADHD being caused by trauma. It's considered a neurodevelopmental disorder like ASC. There is some theory around trauma and ADHD.

What gets confused is that having ADHD as a child can make someone more likely to experience trauma and also, that trauma-related symptoms can look like ADHD and be diagnosed as ADHD but that may be an inaccurate diagnosis when the problem is trauma-related symptoms.

It's an extremely complicated area.

Genuine question, if we were to get a diagnosis (dd in year 2, traits which I think could be ND) what help is out there?

YABVU to state that the people you work with "obviously" need a diagnosis to get the support they need, while simultaneously questioning why other people - with less obvious difficulties - need a diagnosis. It's the same reason; they need a diagnosis to get the support they need. I'm seeking a diagnosis for my child so that we understand him better and can support him better (at home and school) but also crucially to help him to understand and accept himself.

No 4 year old should say they hate themselves and want to die.

I was clumsily asking about NT kids, pp have explained so well how it can be owing to several potential external factors..