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?

@Justhereforaibu1 not much tbh. My little boy is at a special needs school and pretty much only sees the speech and language therapist (he’s entirely non verbal) and his paediatrician every 6 months.

I can’t remember where I read it, but I recently read an interesting article about this.

It said that whilst increased understanding and reporting of autism could explain some of the increase, there was definitely an overall increase happening.

They attributed this to micro plastics. There was lots of scientific data. I do think PP have a good point about genetic links.

I think because neurodivergence is actually really normal.

I don’t know if there ever has been such a thing as a naughty child, just to be naughty.

There is always a reason why a child is naughty.

It doesn’t always have to be a diagnosis of SN, sometimes it’s because they’re going through a big change, have something else going on, for attention or just because they’re spoilt.

My child is autistic and she’s an angel. I literally couldn’t ask for a better child.
But she’s just very young minded and vulnerable because she struggles to understand the consequences of actions which can be dangerous.

I work with SEND teens and most of them are absolute angels too.
They just think everyone else is as nice as them and have absolutely no sense of danger and will literally do anything anyone tells them.

Most of the bad behaviour we get are from kids who are used to getting their own way.
Either because they’re spoilt or because their parents are trying to juggle other children, work etc and so when they were young and started deregulating then they were given in to for an easier life, which I don’t blame them for and now they’re teens they’re much bigger and stronger.

Some can deregulate if the routines are changed etc but because we’re set up for them (have lots of brain breaks, rules, fidget toys etc) their behaviour is good most of the time.

The trouble comes when you’re in a mainstream classroom and they’re seen as just naughty instead of having SN (or other issues) and so can be punished or pushed into deregulating.

My experience as a SEND teacher has definitely made me a better mainstream teacher as I understand that naughty behaviour has a reason.

People with ADHD often smoke weed or seek out other substances to dampen down their nervous system, they may not do this consciously.

It may be that children with ADHD also have parents who have ADHD who have self medicated.

It might be that there is a link as you say but much more research is needed, we think we know a lot about neurology but we dont really, the science around this is only about 100 or so years old. In another 100 years and with increased technology to look into the brain I think its likely diagnosis would be more clear.

but then you would still have to look a lot deeper - a lot of people who use drugs recreationally do so as a coping tactic, many of them will be people who are themselves neurodiverse.

it’s a lot more likely that it’s down to the fact that autisim is known to have a genetic factor than to the coping mechanisms used.

I've recently been learning about the concepts of adverse childhood experiences, complex trauma and toxic stress - and how these manifest in almost the exact same ways.

It's been making me wonder about my own diagnoses, because looking back, neither I or my assessors really talked about the history of problems in my family and upbringing, in fact they vaguely brushed off my questions about attachment disorders since I am capable of relationships.

While in oneway it doesn't matter as the symptoms are the same, I just can't help but wonder if autism and adhd diagnoses are more comforting labels than the alternative - because the idea that someone was accidentally developmentally damaged by their own loving family, intergenerational trauma, or society, is a haunting one.

Some societies still have horribly high mortality for children under 5. Which can cover a loooooot of things, especially in areas where reason for death may not even be recorded. We just don't know how many toddlers who die of a particular disease were in a weakened state because of their sensory issues with food, for example.

When I was a kid, all the dc who clearly had autism were just left to struggle or punished for being different.

I prefer the ways things are now.

I think some people are surprised to discover just how common neurodisablity is.

It's definitely diagnosis, not prevalence. I come across adults with clear indicators of ADHD (similarly underdiagnosed) who have never been investigated for it, either due to lack of knowledge or parents thinking it would create a stigma (either for the child, for them or the parents???).

The adults experienced all those traits as children but were just labelled highly strung, lazy, day dreamers, disorganised, sloppy, disruptive, stupid etc. It was only if their symptoms were so disruptive that they affected the whole family/class that the threshold was reached for investigations to take place. Incidentally the ones I come across are often intelligent academically so manage to get through education but not as well as if they had had the right kind of support.

If we are entering a world where neurodiversity becomes the norm, what will that look like?

More creative, out of the box thinkers as a PP says, also people with data analysis and tech strengths.

But what about flexibility and resilience? Can we change society enough to be comfortable for those of us who are ND?

How do we avoid autistic burn out?

Can society be comfortable for all ND people or will some needs compete with others?

I'm thinking about sensory seeking and sensory averse people. Perhaps we'll move away from things being inflicted on us 'en masse', like piped music, in favour of us wearing noise cancelling headphones and listening to sounds of our choice.

My MIL is a specialist working with children with Autism and other conditions so we discuss this stuff a lot. She said that there are a few elements at play, one of which was Covid because during lockdowns, parents spent SO much time at home with their kids that they noticed behaviours and traits that they might not have picked up on normally or might not have realised were a big issue for their child. Therefore, more people are taking their children to be assessed than previously.

Another thing she mentioned is that during lockdown, a lot of kids missed out on socialisation and other developmental opportunities. Therefore, they haven't developed as we might have previously seen, whether that's becoming more anxious, having a lack of speech and language skills etc. and these are therefore more pronounced at an older age and more noticeable as an issue. Again, this means more people are taking their children to be assessed.

She also mentioned that we're much more aware of Neurodivergence now. Apparently, when she trained 30 years ago, she was told that Autism was rare and she was unlikely to work with many children who had it. This is because only children with very obvious symptoms were diagnosed. Now, we know that autism (and other conditions) occur on a spectrum and our awareness of what Autism, Anixiety, OCD etc. looks like is very different and encompasses a wider array of behaviours. Again, this leads to more people taking their children to be assessed.

Personally, I think it's both: a big increase in diagnoses and an increase of the number of people with autism and anxiety.

I meet a lot of the criteria. DH's family are practically textbook, including an over medicated mum diagnosed with Bipolar at a time that was unusual. I think she's actually extremely likely to be neurodiverse.

It is more than one thing.

Age of parents. It’s so easy to say this has no impact when the data says different. Hardly anyone can afford to have kids at peak fertility anymore. Lots of women also pick older men for stability and the older the man the more likely the child will have ND.

Environment//diet/chemicals/hormones. I’m personally convinced this plays a part although obviously open for debate.

Increased medical interventions.

Increased diagnosis due to awareness.

And also, drugs make people feel good or have a good time.

There is sometimes a deeper meaning, but not always.

Your brain being flooded with serotonin or dopamine or both = feels good, happy, no worries etc. It's neurochemistry.

It can very often be as simple as that.

The hereditary part of autism or ADHD doesn’t increase with age. Perhaps the severity….who knows.
older dads are more likely to have a child with mental health issues

I think a lot of people diagnosed are having kids and it can be hereditary.
If I was autistic I would not be having children because having read some of the horrific stories on here I know I wouldn't cope with a disabled child . I have a colleague at work whose ability to understand the world around him is severely impaired and he has two children with severe autism to the point that they are incapable of living independent lives . The amount of intervention the family requires from social services , mental health teams , NHS has him in tears on a regular basis . Heart breaking .

Interesting

By db's son is autistic and he was over 40.very intelligent boy but so fixated with certain things. I thought he was autistic before he was diagnosed

A mixture of more diagnosis - either in person or online (not sure how someone can accurately diagnose when they don't meet the child in person on a few occasions) and also older parents. There are many studies that have shown that older parents (especially the father) in their late 30s and older increase the risk of having an autistic child.

Drug abuse of any type impacts the developing foetus. Midwives see the damage in babies born prematurely and addicted to heroin to addicted mothers. White collar drug abuse damaging babies is barely spoken about. However it doesn't cause autism, it could cause other conditions that mimic autism.

Yes some of our children are still being assessed online, its crazy

In terms of the 'risk', do remember that there could be another thing at play, that if parents have ASD, they may have found it harder to find a partner, settle down and form a relationship with someone so this came later to do them. Their child is at higher likelihood of having ASD simply because they also have it, not becuase they are older parents

Oh my goodness! People like you really need to learn how genetic studies and statistics work before speaking.
perhaps the coke head fathers take coke because they’re (undiagnosed) autistic (and don’t know it) and it coke helps them escape not nothing what’s wrong with them

"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."

Well said @Nn9011

My children both show signs of being ND, one is waiting an assessment and the other I'm waiting to see how she gets on at school - she may grow out of it. I didn't realise before I started looking into it that I have a LOT of traits and now suspect I have been misdiagnosed (I have been told I have BPD but this never felt like it actually fit me properly). I think a lot of adults don't get themselves assessed until they're children are diagnosed and suddenly things that never made sense just click into place - so that adds to an increase in diagnosis.

There is more awareness, and (slightly) less stigma. I have lots of people tell me that my eldest can't have ADHD because she's not naughty 🙄I've never said she was. That doesn't mean she doesn't have ADHD and it doesn't mean that she isn't struggling with lots of other things. There's definitely more awareness that girls often present differently to boys as well now which helps with recognising more children.

I was always called overly sensitive in school, my mum would be told I was just a shy child because I had no friends and would rather play by myself, I was very bright but very quiet and I needed to stand up for myself more and I had severe anxiety. ...nowadays I think most teachers would flag those things up as things to watch at the very least. My mum would laugh about the fact that I'd get so upset and overwhelmed that I'd bang my head against a wall or she'd get irritated at me for screaming/panicking in busy/bright/loud places - I think now those things would be seen as obvious sensory issues. (And I'm only talking 25 years ago).

I've managed to become a semi-functioning adult, I definitely have a lot of issues I struggle with and I don't cope well with life, I wonder if I had gotten a diagnosis and potentially support would I have had a better chance at a happy life now?