Why are so many children autistic these days?

[Superlambaanana]

I've just seen someone comment on a thread that 4 out of 5 of their DC are autistic. So many classroom assistants in every primary class. So many parents I talk to saying they have or are fighting to get a diagnosis for their DC. And yet no one I went to school with at primary or secondary level was ever diagnosed as autistic, nor did anyone do anything that suggested they were undiagnosed like hand flapping or inability to communicate normally. Various levels of intelligence and social ability obviously, but no one who was at the level of meltdowns and needing stringent routine etc. Is it environmental?

12 years ago I remember my then neighbour battling for her boy at every level of education. He has a chromosomal disorder and quite severe learning difficulties. I was surprised at the time that he was deemed austistic as it seemed wrong to lump him in with kids with more nebulous behavioural problems (PDA etc) and it's such an all-encompassing, vague term. I thought that then, and I stand by it today. We don't have infinite pots of state money and as pp upthread said, the influx of TAs etc costs money. The parents determined on a diagnosis cost time and money. The ones who suffer are kids like the boy I mentioned.

It hasn't, I was diagnosed a couple of months ago, but obviously I was autistic in school.
Maybe we even went to school together.

I was finally diagnosed with ADHD in 2018 after reaching breaking point when my two children were small. I absolutely recognise the symptoms - and a level of dysfunction - in two of my older family members. We also have autism in the family but only my great-uncle, who was more severely affected, received any kind of formal diagnosis - and even then, I don't believe the word autism was ever mentioned. Yet my grandmother, at the age of 95, watched a documentary about Temple Grandin and recognised traits of autism in herself - totally undiagnosed and unrecognised as she was able to live independently.

1. Misdiagnosis. My auntie (72) is autistic, but has spent her entire life being labelled bipolar and having ECT 😢
2. Genetics. We get married to people who are similar to us these days. Back in the day, we married the first person we met.
3. Increased recognition, especially of autistic girls. Who knew that those people-pleasing, anxious perfectionists who were slightly socially out of step were actually autistic?
4. we did have autistic classmates in the 80s/90s. I can think of many classmates who couldn’t handle emotions/couldn’t concentrate/masked all day/melted down at home/suddenly got places in ‘special schools’.
5. Disability was swept under the carpet back in the day. DH’s uncle lived alone, never married, did a boring, detail-oriented job and was massively taken advantage of by some local yobs, leading to his death 😢 definitely autistic.

If you look up the dictionary term of neurotypical you get a response meaning someone who actually does not want to be called 'normal'.

If you look up the term normal in the dictionary you get told:
'conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected'

Therefore 'normal' is faking which can be considered masking so technically we are all ND just showing in different ways. Meaning human.

As someone said it is a spectrum. High functioning is no longer a term used but we can all see the difference in one end of the spectrum to the other. The issue is not whether autism exists nor is it more common now that it can be diagnosed the same as hiv or aids for a long time was not seen or diagnosed until research was done like everything else it is just much more discussed and more people are educated towards it.

Classrooms today feature mainly silent, individual work in rows of tables at least at secondary level. The pendulum has swung the other way. It’s designed to help ND students focus because it’s more routine-based.

On what ?

Lots of contributing reasons IMO - older parents, increase in UPF maybe, improved rate of premature baby survival.

The biggest reason I think is the schools and society in general are far harder to cope with than they used to be.
I was at school in the 80s and it was far more formal, overcrowded and overstimulating classrooms were not a thing. There were children who I would recognise now as having adhd and/or autism (including me), but boundaries were clearer, there wasn’t the pressure that’s piled on children now.

Schools are getting worse and worse for children, who are no longer coping, and in higher numbers need a diagnosis to get the help they need in order to cope.

Because us autistics are human our behaviour is human, so when in distress it looks like poor behaviour one way or another, hence ignorant comments about naughty children. Children do well if they can (quote from psychologist Ross Greene, author of The explosive child and Lost in School(.

@Superlambaanana So many classroom assistants in every primary class.

Nope, not anymore. Do you pay any attention to what's happening in education? (In case you're desperately trying to make a case along the lines of "society can't afford so many autistic children, let's make more cuts.")

This is just my opinion. But I do feel that change in parenting style has allowed autistic children (especially those who would have been previously diagnosed as Asperger's / high functioning) to be able to express themselves / not mask as heavily. My Dd is autistic and masks heavily in a school setting but has huge meltdowns at home because we have been educated on neurodivergence we don't punish her for these meltdowns. As a child (and adult) I have suffered with severe anxiety and other mental health problems as my behaviour would have been completely unacceptable at home and in school and I had to mask in both settings. Again this is just my opinion but may have something to do with parents now being more aware of children with additional needs and seeking diagnosis.

@coxesorangepippin Wow. I actually never ever thought I would give a virtual gold medal to anyone ever in my life but congratulations. You will get my gold medal for the most ignorant comment I have ever read on autism. Ever. And I have read a lot.

I think as an 80s kid growing up I was just seen as different or strange or something.
I knew I didn't fit in but thought I just hadn't worked it all out so I spent years trying to mask and be "normal" trying so hard to fit into a world I couldn't, I was just socially awkward and became socially isolated because of it.
I was always in trouble at school for reasons I didn't understand and lost many friends because I said or did things I didn't realise were not seen as appropriate.
It seems like a life robbed because I feel so sad for the younger me that I wish could have just been accepted as the way I am (the only way I can be) but instead I was bullied, mocked and ridiculed because I didn't fit in when all the time there was a reason and no matter how hard I tried to mask I was never going to be accepted.
I wish I had grown up in an era where there was understanding of my struggles.
Sadly I still think we're expected to find strategies to be like nt people who will never just fully accept the fact we are not able to be as society expects and has normalised what nt people find natural and as a majority in society they expect everyone to adapt to the same way.

I’m 44, when will i grow out of my autism? Hopefully soon cause it makes my life bloody difficult.

So many classroom assistants in every primary class.

Where is this? Obviously I can’t speak for every school in the country, but in our area we’re crying out for funding for additional adults for children who have limited speech, aren’t continent etc.

My uncle died at 65 still not growing out of his gayness so I am not really sure I can say anything positive for either of us growing out of our autism.

@Psychoticbreak one from me too.

Greater awareness, and people being diagnosed as autistic who in the past may have had other diagnoses or none. People with relatively mild problems might have been classed as 'emotionally disturbed', 'maladjusted', 'language delayed' or just 'odd', while those with more severe problems might have been classed as 'mentally handicapped', 'childhood schizophrenic' (a diagnosis almost never used nowadays) or 'psychotic'.

A study by Brugha et al (2011) involved assessing several thousand unselected people according to the current criteria for autistic spectrum disorder. The rate was about 1 per cent and it was the same for children, younger adults and older adults, suggesting that actual rates of autism had not changed, though diagnosis rates had. (Admittedly this was a few years ago, but the biggest increase in autism diagnosis rates occurred during the 90s.)

There may be a slight increase in actual rates, due to very premature or sick babies surviving at increased risk of autism, where 40 years ago, they would likely have died. Also, more speculatively, it may be that increased average (of fathers as well as mothers) of having children may somewhat increase the chances of autism.

But the main causes of autism are genetic. And if 4 out of 5 children in a family are autistic, this indicates a strong genetic tendency in that family.

@coxesorangepippin

you know nothing about autism.

we do not grow out of it.

we are not broken or flawed or misbehaved or bad. We are simply different. The world could function perfectly well on our terms if we were the majority. we are treated poorly and forced to comply to NT standards to get along and that is what causes most of our distress.

My household is set up for ASD individuals and runs by ASD standards. We all feel at peace here and can truly relax.

You are so wrong.

I was at school in the 60s/70s. There used to be a remedial class for the unteachable. These kids would probably be diagnosed with ASD/ADHD these day. They were always there but not diagnosed
My DS is autistic. There were possibly about 3 other kids in the school with SEN in th 90s. It was a battle to get any kind of help but with my persistence and his determination to succeed, at 32 he has his first full time permanent job after completing an electrical apprenticeship

I have adhd, middle class upbringing, sports 4 times a week yet every report I ever had complained about my attention span.

I was diagnosed age 40 and it was such a relief!

I have an aunt who has never married, is 80 years old And has never been diagnosed but it’s as plain as the nose on your face that she is autistic.

I'm sorry, I'm not normally rude, but "grow out of their diagnosis once older" is just Bollocks!

Question: I am not at all trying to be provocative but I read recently that autism "could" be linked to a high UPF diet. Is there any truth in that?

Combination of factors.

Better understanding of difficulties children are facing.
It is hereditary and people with those conditions in the family are more likely to have children with similar so it’s becoming more prevalent.

higher mortality rate of children. Less children dying.

there is no one reason.