Autism rate unbelievable

[OneShyLimeBird]

I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but the rate of autism has increased so much that I am doubting my own high functioning diagnosis, and the diagnoses of many others. The meaning of autism has expanded so much that virtually every other child has it. It used to be so rare, I’m not saying your child doesn’t have needs but you used to have to meet a much higher threshold to be diagnosed with autism that it’s now lost all meaning. It can’t all be autism.

And this is why higher rates of diagnosis is a good thing!

This is pretty much me when I was younger and I dropped out of uni as I just couldn't cope (wasn't diagnosed until later).

I'm so pleased your daughter has the support she needs to achieve her potential

Autism is linked to older parents.

We have a trend towards older and older parents.

Therefore we SHOULD expect an increase in the rate of autism. This is also coupled with greater awareness.

So there are legitimate reasons why more people would be diagnosed with autism without there necessarily being bollocks.

Ah. So you think asthma is also a label?

Honestly I agree that it's over diagnosed and that will be at the detriment of those who really suffer as services will be spread too thin for them to get the help they need.

Literally every thread on here, no matter what it's about, has several posters diagnosing everyone as ND.

What's interesting is watching this stuff play out on social media. A couple of people I went to school with have been hell bent on getting their kids diagnosed with something as they think something "isn't right". The kids are feral, have eaten poorly their whole lives and have been brought up by the iPad.

People seem to want to pin their bad parenting on something other than their own failings.

Autism etc has a clear set of criteria, where as other ND/SEN does not necessarily and can be quite broad and wishy washy. And that's the problem, these things being lumped together. OP is right, these things lose credibility due to volume and for the reasons above many people roll their eyes when they come across yet another child placed in this bucket.

Where did I say that? Both are medical conditions. Labels are what are on your clothes

Where did I say that? Both are medical conditions. Labels are what are on your clothes

You're so ignorant. Stupid is a label, naughty is a label. ASD is a diagnosis and ND is an umbrella term that refers to anyone with an ASD/ADHD/dyspraxia/dyslexia etc diagnosis.

No, people with a ND diagnosis do not automatically meet the criteria for PIP.

They do if their difficulties meet the needs of the PIP descriptors.

How do they when disability benefits are awarded not on a diagnosis but on how the person is affected or in the case of child DLA, how much extra care they need? Sorry quoted the wrong quote but you originally made it sound like DLA / PIP was awarded base don a diagnosis ?

I have ASD, and ADHD . My dc all have ASD or ASD/ADHD and are quite severely affected. I think the rates are increasing it’s not just better awareness I do think it needs investigation not to query anyone’s diagnosis but to plan better to support those with ASD as it’s clearly affecting a lot of people

Yes Ive said this on threads before and been shouted down, we have lots of children and adults diagnosed where I work, and Ive been part of many a diagnosis process/appointments etc. There have been diagnoses given when all three areas are not markedly impaired and conversely when 3 areas are impaired other aspects to the child mean the practitioner or team dont feel ASD is the condition

There is a huge variation in approaches and practice.

Then why did my DS have to appeal? He’s severely affected, at 31 he can’t work, needs daily care etc and he was still turned down for PIP. It was granted on appeal (and rightly so).

I don’t think a diagnosis of any condition necessarily qualifies a person for PIP. It’s based on an individual’s needs.

Here’s a bit about over diagnosing and ‘overlabelling normal human behaviour’ to quote one of the medical professionals featured:

https://www.gu.se/en/news/autism-overdiagnosed-christopher-gillberg-warns (this is the professor whose work led to broadening the ND criteria)

Videos:

🤣🤣🤣
The irony!

I had a feeling I’d be reporting this post before I even read it and I was correct.

Good grief, what tosh. Autism is genetic and nothing to do hpf and ways of working.

Autism specialists themselves say its overdiagnosed, professionals I work with (and have worked with for the past 20 years) say the same, nurseries, schools, GPs, SWs, psychologists, psychiatrists, many of them say the same.

I dont know why its such a taboo thing on this site, perhaps it is on other forums too, I dont know

He did get it, though.
The Tribunal found in his favour.

Special schools haven’t closed, they’re full to the brim with no spaces.
100% there is a huge increase in children who are preverbal with severe ASD traits. I’ve seen the rise year on year in my job. There’s no way this is because of increase in ‘awareness’. There’s something causing it or the traits are shared with something else eg attachment disorders and trauma. And addiction to iPads magnify behaviours hugely.

I think the diagnosis criteria and understanding of neurodivergence is so blunt a tool that in the future we may look back and be surprised that we didn’t recognise the different learning difficulties and we grouped so many as autistic. My son has a LD but he also received a diagnosis of autism at aged 12. I personally don’t think he is autistic but he was struggling so badly with special schools that could not meet needs (because they were rubbish!) and the anxiety that that caused that I think he was given the diagnosis. He does have traits, I have traits because I’m socially anxious. I do find it hard to get my head around how many verbal autistic people shout out and set the rules on how ND should be talked about. Means my boys voice is lost

The criteria for PIP relate to what a person can do and their ability to function. Just "Johnny has an autism diagnosis, here's a bit of paper" doesn't cut it.

OP.... it's complicated. I was diagnosed fairly recently with ADHD and autism. I am grateful for my diagnosis - it explains a lot of the things about me which I'd always just blamed myself for. But I feel uncomfortable saying "I'm autistic" - I am very high functioning (and very odd, fwiw!) - someone who would have been diagnosed with Asperger's had that still been a diagnosis. Lumping me and you in the same category as non-verbal people with severe symptoms feels like a disservice to those people.

My pet theory about the rise in diagnosis, adding to what others have said rather than disagreeing with it, is to do with the tech industry. My husband works as a programmer. He's probably ND, as are many of his colleagues that I have met. Thirty years ago they'd have been sat in Mark Zuckerberg's garage and barely seen the light of day, let along had a chance to form relationships. Now they live in London and Silicon Valley and earn squillions, which rather improves their ability to start a family and have children who are themselves ND.

But not everyone does get it. It's not the diagnosis it's needs arising from the diagnosis

Exactly. So it’s not the diagnosis that makes the deal but the difficulties experienced. I doubt Elon Musk would qualify for PIP.

That was not me disagreeing with you, @TheShellBeach