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?

50% of my autistic DC's parents are autistic. Both the ND and NT parent actually find the, "oh, you're autistic? But you're so successful/friendly/funny/other positive adjective." Or the little surprised look that an autistic person has a happy marriage, and some lovely children, or that a non-autistic person married them.

Also, the poster who said its not genetic, our family tree says otherwise pretty compellingly.

I'm wondering if it's anything to do with increased poisons in our environment eg voc from carpets, curtains, sofas, plastics, bp leaching everywhere?

@Superlambaanana

Not all parents of autistic children are themselves autistic.

Quote one poster who said that.

It is similar say to having a 21st birthday. If you don't have a party and do not decide to wear the badge from your birthday card how will anyone know? We like to display our labels clearly.

60s/70s some would have been in institutions. I went to an exhibition about a local asylum and what stuck with me most was the children’s playground and nursery and how recent some photos were ie children still sent there when I was a child.
My childhood best friend had a physical disability and was taxied to another authority and had different school holidays. Her mum fought for her to go to mainstream secondary.

Surely the DLA does come in handy?

None of which was a thing in 50's or up and a lot of us are 40 plus so eh no. No.

When I left Teacher Training College at the end of the 1960's I kept in touch with college friends, and one of them was promoted remarkably early to a Deputy Headship.
This was because it was a newly designated "special school"; until a change in the law, children below a certain intellectual capacity were deemed to need looking after rather than educated. My friend's brief was to encourage long-service staff to introduce a more "educational" approach to their work.
I was able to see the school in action, as it did not run to conventional term dates, and I could see that, physically, the children had always been well looked after, there was no expectation of taking things further. In retrospect, I think some of them, had they be children today, would be integrated with support into mainstream schools.
I can only guess, after all this time, if any of them were "on the spectrum".
As PP's have said, it is also possible that some pupils also buzzed along under the radar; I can think of some former pupils who were simply accepted as a bit eccentric; after all, neurotypical children can do some pretty wacky things. But as PP said, masking must have been easier when conventions were more rigid.
I recall a memorable line from a TV drama, written by Victoria Wood, delivered by Thora Hird: "We didn't have Special Needs in my day; you sat at the back and did raffia work!"

Because undiagnosed autistic children grow into adults and birth more autistic children.

That’s it.

That’s the answer.

I was an undiagnosed autistic child at school in the 80s and 90s and could communicate and didn’t “hand flap” 🙃

I also believe quite a lot of diagnoses of autism and ADHD are actually foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, but people aren’t willing to fess up to drinking during pregnancy so…

I don't think school academies and their rigid ways of managing pupils helps anybody.

I'm a 50 year old woman who has only in the last 2 years got an Au & ADHD diagnosis. I coped fine at school, presumably because I masked very well and the school environment allowed me to. I'm not sure I'd have coped so well if I'd have been in as rigid an environment as a modern academy trust school.

Society knows such much more about learning and educational theory these days and yet academies are treating pupils like blue collar factory workers of yesteryear. Some kids thrive, some cope, and those who aren't wired the same way it will be more obvious because they won't cope as well.

That and screens, 24 hour news, the speed at which tech is evolving, and social media. I'm NOT saying they cause neurodiversity, but I'm sure they contribute to overstimulation and overwhelm.

There has been a noticeable increase over the last ten years in my area. We are dealing with many more non verbal, classic type of autism in early years alongside the more able children on the spectrum.

The 'why' should be investigated- genetics? Foods? Vaccines? Pollutants- because this could be become an increasing situation. And if a larger population does have the more severe level of autism we need to be preparing how to help them live in a world that suits their needs better.

I know that , I'm asking where the poster who said there were no special schools in their county/ neighbouring county thinks children went because I don't believe them when they say there were no specialist schools anywhere near them

This is quite interesting on special schools.

Only goes up to 1980.

www.historyandpolicy.org/docs/dfe-anne-borsay-text.pdf

Not sure whether to laugh or cry at the comments in the vein of ‘when I was at school hardly anyone was diagnosed’. Especially the teachers - as, of all the teachers who’ve worked with my kids, it was just the odd one who noticed and confirmed my suspicions. Most dismissed it completely when I raised it because they are teachers, not psychologists and know nothing at all abut ASD. Both were diagnosed in their mid teens.

And no, I wasn’t diagnosed at school in the 70’s and 80’s either - but the fact is that I was ASD/ADHD: I hid in the library or empty class rooms and read classic lit books rather than mix; I was self taught on 5 instruments and wrote the school entries to the original xmas carol competition; I was ‘weird’ enough to get the shit kicked out of me behind the bike racks; so I eventually stopped going to school and spent a year hiding in the local library reading autobiography and teaching myself Italian so that when they finally noticed/reported and brought me back in, I wasn’t even that much behind my peers. And there were others like me.

No system or will to identify and support, no understanding of the broader spectrum nature of it (as a PP above explains above it was not recognised as such until 1994); nor any real understanding that girls could be on the spectrum and that they presented differently. I didn’t get picked up at all until a clinician who had assessed my kids noticed and, because I’m a ‘mature student’ suggested it could be useful to have a formal diagnosis.

We’ve always been there, but we’re were the awkward wall flowers, the unkissed virgins, the kids who might have shone in certain classes but withered almost physically and wanted to die in PE/group-based activities.

What is DLA? Sorry excuse my ignorance its not cos I have autism it is because I am blonde. And Irish.

Oh come on, most people have cited several factors, with the majority being explained by better awareness/recognition. That's because there isn't just one thing and you seem to be looking for something specific.

What's your interest in this anyway? Because Autism is not something you fill a boring afternoon with, this is someone's life. Read a blooming book or research article.

@Superlambaanana well yes DLA is "handy" but is less than what I could be earning if I had a full time job.... which I can't because I am taking care of my autistic child.
Some people seem to think DLA is to pay for special equipment or therapy etc.
In most families I expect it goes on what it does in my family - everyday life things like food and the electric bill !

@Psychoticbreak I don't understand?
There is a build up of toxic chemicals a surrounding us which wouid perhaps have an impact on a fetus?

@Psychoticbreak DLA is Disability Living Allowance - a financial benefit.

We’ve always been there, but we’re were the awkward wall flowers, the unkissed virgins, the kids who might have shone in certain classes but withered almost physically and wanted to die in PE/group-based activities.

This! With bells on!

It doesn't come in as handy as being able to work full time would

Since my DS was diagnosed, I've done a lot of thinking back to my primary school days (in the 90s), and can think of at least three children I was in a class with who, looking back, must have had ASD, ADHD or both. I think I variously thought of them as having learning difficulties or being naughty. I think one got moved to a special school. This was a small village school, with 25 kids in mixed year classes, going on my memory alone. Those NT kids were definitely there.

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/what-is-autism/the-causes-of-autism#:~:text=Evidence%20suggests%20that%20autism%20may,person%20has%20been%20brought%20up.