I tbink you don’t know what you are talking about in relation to it being so easy to get diagnosed as ND. In the U.K. It’s actually difficult to get a referral for assessment. And once you are passed that hurdle there are strict criteria in order to meet the threshold to qualify for a diagnosis.
what you are seeing “in the wild” is a load of people, especially female adults, being diagnosed or seeking a diagnosis Now. Later In life. There is a catch up going on - ie of people who were not diagnosed when younger. And when they find this missing piece of their jigsaw they are often astonished and want to talk about it more than say the 40yo man who has known since he was 8yo.
given 20% of the population may be ND you would expect a class of 30 kids to have 3-6 kids who are ND. I didn’t know that many people at school, nor university. However that ratio amongst my adult friends is getting closer.
current view by professionals in the field is that the UK is under diagnosing - both boys and girls. For various reasons. And
adults females are an under represented population partly because women and men present differently. Many girls and young women were instead labelled as depressed, day dreamers, horse mad or anxious rather than as neurodivergent.
or they were so skilled at masking that it is only later in life when hormones go drop / become erratic (eg pregnancy, post partum or peri menopause) when they can no longer keep all the balls in the air and the mask slips and they believe they are losing the plot, but the dr suggests there is something else at play here.
Often these women are diagnosed after their “naughty” sons are diagnosed. Given the genetic link this is not surprising.
to be diagnosed as meeting the criteria for ASD or ADHD you actually need to be DISABLED by your symptoms AND there needs to be a HISTORY of these symptoms and in more than one location. Ie you cannot just self report you get a little anxious when someone comes to the front door.
no it should not be an excuse for poor behaviour and sometimes we have to accept we cannot do certain jobs. You would not expect an electrician to be colour blind for example. Or to have an armless blind surgeon.
however. In schools we should teach tolerance as well as make school accessible. It is not about giving students an advantage over the next one. if Jonny gets 30 minutes extra because their short term memory is shit and processing time is slow, then that is purely aimed at levelling the playing field for GCSEs - just like we would allow glasses for the short signed or a reader for a blind student.
if Karen is an ordinary student she does not need extra time to read and understand the question, nor does she need glasses, a reader or a typist. And yes She may be the brightest or the most stupid neurotypical kid sitting the exam and that still stands.
if you need glasses. Or extra processing time. Please have it. Whether you are 16 or 30.
if that means you cannot be a fighter pilot, then I think we can all accept that!