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?

I think we should. I think an entire forum should be set up to do exactly that.

I would love to see more units attached to mainstream - fully staffed and funded. I’m sure it would be more effective and less costly than private special schools. I hate to see children marginalised. There could be crossover in staff training and with children moving into ms classes in their ability area.

@Psychoticbreak love reading shite from people who have absolutely no idea what it's like being someone who grew up knowing they were different but not knowing why and it being damaging to our wellbeing!

It feels like some people want to shut the debate down as the question is offensive to them.

Its that posters no longer believe others are posting in good faith because of the ableist language used and attitudes shown. People post on other sites about how they troll on mumsnet and other sites about this subject. There are clearly people on here with an agenda saying things like everyone is on the spectrum and ‘labels’ are handed out like sweets and other similar bollocks.

Mumsnet are mostly disappointing on how they deal with the issue.

I have no issue in discussing the topic if it comes from a genuine place. I have an autistic child and I also have 2 friends who work as part of teams who assess for ASD. I’ve had interesting discussions with them about the increase in diagnosis. They are informed and not ableist though, unlike many of the posters these threads attract.

But if that poster with their thoughts on process food is to be believed surely the fact that a lot of us older people should not have autism as back then our parents fed us non processed foods which were not as available yet here we are anyway with our diagnosis?

@Havesome2024

The amount of teachers on here who clearly have no understanding of masking is worrying tbh

I don't think it was part of teacher training when I did my PGCE & I think recent understanding of how it is presenting in young people is being fed back to the teaching profession. For example spotting signs in female teens - I imagine they always existed but went undiagnosed.

I don't know how differently teachers can teach though as there are still 30 students & 1 teacher. So having a diagnosis won't necessarily mean a huge amount more support - unless they qualify for a TA.

My DD is I think on autistic spectrum. But I haven't gone down the route of getting her diagnosed. She functions well academically but it just introverted socially & struggles with that side of things. So I'm sympathetic if others want a diagnosis but unsure what extra school can do for students like that.

I agree with both a genetic component causing increased numbers of people with autism and greater diagnosis. My DD is recently diagnosed with autism. One of the main factors in her diagnosis was her situational mutism. This has only been linked to autism in recent years. The other major difficulty is anxiety around school. My own mother had situational mutism as a child and teen. She struggled at school and had a lot of difficulty making friends. She has suffered with anxiety and depression as an adult. She may well have autism but it would never have been considered in her day. My brother is almost certainly autistic - he has many obvious traits but back in the 1980s it was rare to be diagnosed if you were at all verbal. I certainly have traits of autism, though perhaps not sufficiently to warrant a diagnosis.

My partner's son was diagnosed with aspergers (as it was called at that time). So maybe there is a genetic component within each of us that has made it more likely our DD was born with autism. Perhaps people with autism (diagnosed or otherwise) are more likely to get into relationships with one another and woukd then be more likely to have children with autism.

To be honest, I don't see a problem with having more people diagnosed. Maybe with greater numbers of people with known neurodivergence, societal expectations can be adjusted so neurodivergent people can find the world easier to navigate.

It's a combination of factors. More awareness leading to more people seeking a diagnosis and the criteria being so wide that diagnoses can be made all throughout the spectrum. The other is the current way we live.

Whoosh!

I wonder how many are lgbtq.... you know the other thing people were not when we were all growing up. I mean why so many gay people now? Why so many transgender people? Is it because NOW we all want labels or is it because the world has become more accepting? Open mouths and closed minds. Everywhere.

There's also a genetic link so siblings may be more likely to be autistic.

Smaller families now so less siblings.

@Psychoticbreak exactly! Didn't you know we love collecting labels like a fashion accessory?

Now yes but only because the art of collecting fancy paper and keyrings has died out lol

@Psychoticbreak quite!! 😂😂

@Psychoticbreak

I would imagine Elon Musk & Jeff Bezos & Mark Zuckerberg were considered quirky/on the spectrum as teens. I don't think being diagnosed with autism (or ADHD) is a sign that someone is academically less able.

@converseandjeans kinda my point really!

https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/autism-myth-and-reality

There was an increase in the 90's when it became more understood. Diagnosis levelled off in the early 2000's.

I'm sure the ide of what we thought was autism has changed. It was always said that the children who seemed to have obvious learning difficulties were ' autistic' , but as we've become more aware of the autistic spectrum, it's apparent that some of the really quiet, or the brain box/ studious type may be autistic too.

Also , it was usually only boys that were seen to be autistic . So the realisation that girls are autistic increases the numbers by 50% anyway.

There is no such thing as “mild autism”. Please research what the spectrum is before making comments like this, its not a “mild” to “severe” scale.

I think there is more understanding about autism now so more children are diagnoses where once they would have been written off as naughty kids or a bit strange. I'm not convinced that there are more children with autism now than there was.
I was at school in the 60s and I am sure that many of the children in my class were autistic but never recognised as such.

It's always existed but there was much reduced awareness of it, especially the more "middle of the road" cases. I look back at my school days and can now identify several of my class mates who clearly had Autism or Aspergers or ADHD or OCD. But back then, we just regarded them as a bit strange, which looking back is appalling and cruel, but it was how things were back then.

My best friend literally couldn't write legibly - it was impossible for anyone to read the handwriting. Rather than getting any real help, just put into the "remedial" classes with all the trouble makers. Although pretty clever, got nowhere with exams etc and ended up leaving with nothing. It was basically only the friends who realised the wasted ability/potential - but no one else cared. OK, maybe not autism, but almost certainly on the spectrum in some way. Thankfully, today, would be allowed to use a laptop or have a scribe, but back then, just cast aside.

Another lad in our class had what I now know to be clear signs, such as hand flapping, selective mutism, poor co-ordination etc., mercilessly bullied and humiliated by fellow pupils and teachers. He lived local to me so I continued to know of him through the years through his various jobs he had since leaving school - a succession of crap jobs that he could never hold onto. Except now, he's been working at Sainsburys for years, he must have finally got a diagnosis and an employer willing to give him the support he needed. Shame it's taken so long as the first few decades of his life must have been a real struggle for him.

I have no doubt that there are probably more people with such issues today, but I don't believe it's the main cause of the increase. My belief is that the main cause of the increase in diagnosis is better awareness (teachers and parents and medical professionals) so that those with the traits are caught a lot sooner and the help they need can be given.

yeh pretty sure my mother has asperger syndrome. My dad just goes along with my mother who is ALWAYS RIGHT in her own very limited way she can come across warm so long as you never challenge her, never express a need, never ask for change.............. my brother is kind of the same but not as rigid. My two kids, one has autism, but again his autism is different from my mum's. He has adhd (like me) but also he's oppositional and he didn't learn to talk til he was 4. so, my whole family is 'riddled' with the Autie genes. Please nobody jump down my through. I'm not catastrophising this, it is what it is. If you saw us at a restaurant you wouldn't think, there's another family all pretending to be on the spectrum, all with diagnoses or looking for diagnoses. But if you saw my exam results and if you saw my son's - you'd think, hmm, what happened there. If I told you how many times it took me to pass my driving test, how many times I've failed in my ''career'' (i am working and paying taxes, just a bit stuck, cannot progress despite trying so hard repeatedly)........... I worry for my son. Life is challenging enough I'd say, when you're definitely NT. When you fall into that category of people who seem NT at first until they overshare, turn up late, play the same song forty times, procrastinate for 96 hours, or get so into the work they stay til 7, you start to think ''stop that'' or ''just do it'' and it's not that easy.

Or those who went home for dinner because their mums were at home, and you just could go home in primary at lunchtime if you wanted to. Those children got to have a bit of downtime from the masking, and an escape frrom the noise of the lunch hall and the unstructured play time. Now we don't allow this, and those children have to struggle through masking all day.

Could it be because more people are having children at a later age?