To think no one was allergic to nuts in the 1970's or kids had that ADHT or whatever it is

[ipodmama]

I don,t remember anyone with these 'problems' , I only remember the odd smelly kid?

Following on from LHAO, there is also a belief that the current vaccination program may contribute to allergies in children. The baby vaccines can contain peanut derived products and lactose, contributing to dairy allergies.
My gp friend recently attended a conference on allergies and was told that 40% of children in the Uk now have food allergies and is the highest figure in Europe. Not good.

I do remember a girl in my class at school having a severe fish allergy so she ate lunch in her classroom with friends who also brought fish free lunches. My cousin's wife who grew up in the 1970/1980s has a peanut/nut/fish/chicken allergy all very severe. Interestingly neither of her kids have any allergies.

There has been a massive increase in allergies and if you can pinpoint exactly why to help prevent it then you can make your millions.

Allergies sadly are very very real.

re: autism/adhd etc suspect they were just the naughty/strange children who sadly were not diagnosed and didn't get the help they needed. My brother was diagnosed with dyslexia in the 1980s - but my mum went through school without being diagnosed.

Further it was likely that other children did have these problems just that the schools were professional enough that you didn't know. Or maybe the children were in special schools because they'd been chucked out for being naughty? I remember a child at school whose "problem" didn't have a name. Clearly in hindsight etc he had ASD.

What are you suggesting???

I do believe that the rise of allergies is something to do with modern living - whether it because we're too clean, too many immunisations or chemicals leaching from our environs, or a combination of these or something else, but there is noticeably a rise e.g. hayfever.

However, I also agree that much went undiagnosed. My cousin is autistic, interestingly the diagnosis process started by the job centre who realised he hadn't a hope of getting a job since he couldn't get through the interview. But I think what happened to him was common 25yrs+ ago, in that he was just looked after by the family at home, there was no state involvement. His Dad employed him and they understood him so why did he need speech therapy that was just how he was but that has left him completely unprepared for adult life now his parents are elderly and infirm.

;For instance, all four of my cousin's children have ADHD. Yes, all four of them

With a dx (don't know if they ahd one) quite likely as most beleive there is a genetic component

You wouldn't say @all 4 of my cousin's kids ahd red hair! yes all four of them!'- why a medial disorder?

The thing about my cousin; her kids do not have ADHD. She's a lazy parent and thinks that attributing her children's naughtiness and her reluctance to discipline will be more palateable if she tells people that they have ADHD.

I said "all four of them" because I simply cannot believe that she is pig-headed enough to think that all four of her kids have ADHD rather than all four of her kids have been given no boundaries.

i wish nut allergies were imaginary,gets quite wearing when DD's face and eyes swell up

We have had versions of this thread so many times.

When I was a child in the 1970s, I lived in a staff house within a state boarding school for children with emotional and behavioural issues as my parents were teachers.

There were lots of these schools. They were not for children who were 'offenders' and they ran much like other schools except the staff were all SEN specialists. Part of the reason that they ran as boarding schools was that many of the children were from care homes and could be provided with more continuity of care if they were educated and lived with specialist SEN staff.

There were many children with ADHD and other recognised conditions from a range of backgrounds. The staff knew about, and had qualifications in working with children with, these conditions. I remember my dad working out specific diets for some of the ADHD children who he thought had dietary triggers, and buying specific natural sweets and drinks for the kitchen staff to give to them when the other children had other kinds of treats.

My parents still have plenty of their old books from the 1970s about children with a variety of conditions. In the late 80s most of these schools were shut down and many more SEN children were sent to mainstream schools.

So these kids were around in the 1970s and often recognised as having various conditions that we see today; they just were not educated alongside the OP.

is the OP trying to make a point such as with ADHD, noone can just label their kid as naughty or just not very good at academic stuff any more, they have to have some kind of condition, because that means not a bad word can be uttered?

i think there is some truth to this. i worked in schools for 10 years, and its awful sometimes to see kids who need to be diagnosed so they can get the help they need, but all the red tape and time makes it so hard to get them statemented. and then there are other kids who to be honest, just need their parents to go to some parenting classes and learn about saying 'NO thats BAD' for once, or learning that what they may pass off as normal kid rough and tumble is in fact awful behaviour from their child. these parents are often quick to cry that their child has this and that, but anyone who has spent time with kids who actually have behavioural disorders through no fault of anyones knows the difference. it enrages me greatly, it takes away from the kids who actually need help.

less present is the dyslexia thing, as i've only ever met a couple of children whos parents bleated on about their 'difficulties' when their kids were just not A grade students, which is perfectly normal! the rise of dyslexia diagnoses is fab, my uncle was diagnosed at 42 and the change in him, the relief, the confidence is fantastic.

My DH was diagnosed with severe dyslexia in the mid-1970s. At age 9, he was unable to read, write or add-up, even though he was assessed as having an IQ of 150+, and was sent to a unit for "educationally sub-normal" children for 2 years.

He then went to a mainstream comprehensive school where he sank like a stone and was bullied and ridiculed by teachers and pupils alike who refused to accept that dyslexia exists, and resented his being allowed an extra 20 minutes in exams. That was the ONLY additional help he got in school for the next 5 years. At 16 he passed a CSE grade 1 in woodwork.

He eventually (via an unconventional and circuitous academic route) went to Saint Andrews University and took a degree in Computational Sciences. He now runs his own software design consultancy.

DH is still unable to talk about his school years without getting very emotional and angry. I can't include him in school visits related to DS's ASD because he finds the school environment too distressing - he starts to sweat and shake when he goes through the door. The negative effects of his experiences have had a permanent effect on his self-esteem and will probably prevent him ever reaching his full professional potential.

Yeah, the great old 70's. It was all Zoom lollies, Raleigh Choppers and Space-Hoppers dontcha know?

I'm amazed that any of you can remember the allergies etc of other children. When I look back (schooled in the '80's), I can't think of any children with asthma, hayfever, behavioural issues. That's because I was a child, totally self centred and only really bothered about what directly affected me. So perhaps some of us remember there being less allergies/asthma/excema because we just didn't notice?

the fact that you are unaware if the corect name tells me all i need to know of your ignorance.

Mrs Flittersnoop my lovely db who has many issues had a shocking time at school too very similar to your dh .....he came once with me to collect ds from school and very nearly had a panic attack fortunately I was working in the school too so was able to show him his nephews class and work and stuff whilst their were no children or staff around - he told me even the 'scent' of school makes him feel afraid.

Unfortunately my db didnt have the ambition your dh has and has followed a less 'pc' path and become a drug addict .

I feel very sad and indeed angry that school failed him he is unable to write self taught himself to read and now when reading things that interest him is very informed (hydroponics)

' She's a lazy parent and thinks that attributing her children's naughtiness and her reluctance to discipline will be more palateable if she tells people that they have ADHD.

But that's juest people then isn';t it? there is nothing anyone can do to stop people making up dx's. There will always be someone looking for an excuse. That has no relevance at all to the very many properly diagnosed people who are affected by threads like this becuase there is always some idiot out there willing to say 'Yes but I saw on MN / in the DM / on Jeremy Kyle...'

WRt to the people who won't say naughtty / bully etc where on earth do you guys live? DS1 is a bully; he is naughty. I know this. I am the very opposite of delusional- heck I spent a good few hours in teh Psychs office yesterday weeping as she agreed that yes he may well end up in prison.
Doesn't mean he doesn't have a diagnosed ASD though does it?

Doesn't mean, as the Psych keeps telling me, that he wouldn't be considereably worse if I hadn't slogged my guts out helping him, getting TA support to make sure he can't harm anyone at school (nobody much cares less if he ahrms any of us at home, somewhat sadly).

My toerh three kids aren't like that at all; ds3 has ASD and yet is a sunny well beahved gem, his coundaries had to come from somewhere. Likewise NT ds4 and dyspraxic ds2 (who ahs borderline adhd apparenlty as well though we've never bothered with a DX becuase we don't consider it of a medicalised level, and whose behaviour is good enough for a report saying how polite kind and well mannerd he is)

OK yes there are poeple out there making things up. old news. but remember: every time we reinforce a stereotype of these being made up difficulties / easy to get (ha frigging ha, and yes I do know: if anyone would like my postgrad assignment on gold standard dx within ASD I have a draft somewhere I can email) then we actively ahrm the prospects of those who really do live with the dx's.

I would in no way allow myself to make generalisations as to the behaviours of people based on their colour race or ewthnicity, and I don't expect people to make them based on my boy's dxs either. Just because a few people with ADHD / black people / whatever behave in a certain way in no way indicates anything at all about the rest of them.

I do believe that there can sometimes be a level of overdiagnosis and a lack of responsibility in parenting issues.

However, I also believe that our (ab)use of some substances (not illegal drugs, I'm talking normal manmade substances!) have led to more allergies. I do think that many of these things (behavioural 'problems' & allergies) were simply not known about in the 'good old days'.

FWIW (before I get flamed) DH is dyslexic, DD is 'borderline' dyslexic (LEA ran out of money so won't pay attention to my private assessment saying she is dyslexic), nephew allergic to eggs & dairy (so far), mum has hayfever (born '48) etc etc etc.

I bumped in to a girl I went to school with the other day who was a real 'naughty/wierd/smelly' child at school.. she had grown in to a tearaway teenager and had not a very nice life and was diagnosed with ADHD at 28 years old. She was really sad about it and said about how if they had known about it then she would have had a far happier childhood.

im with you Smallcat.

clearly i just can't parent properly and i must have slept with the lord knows how many consultants, Camhs workers, Ed psych's etc that have all agreed with DS diagnosis.

ignorant moronic numpties.

A friend of the family died 25 years ago because of a nut allergy. She was a teenager. So sad. I am glad there is more awareness now and better regulation with regard food labelling.

The reason that you probably don't remember any kids with learning difficulties or special needs is because they were all shipped off to their own schools, usually by mini bus direct from the house. Pretty hidden really unless you knew they were there.

All our consultants / psychs etc are female and I am not gay- wonder how we got our dx then? MAybe I need to have words with DH?

it's especially ahrd becuase there's this idea that your child has X or Y and that's it. Oh bolleaux! DS1 as a result of heis ASD )(and a not uncommon one) has an eating disorder ythat yes, the Psych confirms, is likely to become full blown bullemia. Scary huh? Suddenly this DX that changes everything but might just allow a chance of independence etc (ds3 doesn't have that option, truly I know to be grateful for what we do have) acquires a life threatening aspect in a ten year old boy.

But you know, maybe I should ahve breastfed for longer eh?

"The reason that you probably don't remember any kids with learning difficulties or special needs is because they were all shipped off to their own schools"

no. Its because she couldn't see them as her head was too far up her own arse

There were people with nut allergies but nowhere near as many. It has increased hugely.

And ADHD has always existed, as a neurological condition, it just wasn't discovered/recognised as the reason for certain behaviours until relatively recently. In the same way that dyslexia wasn't recognised and people were labelled 'thick' because they couldn't read and write, even though it has nothing to do with their IQ.

What were "approved schools"?

Were they schools for children who exhibited behaviour unacceptable to mainstream schools?

I only remember them from the old 70s 'joke': "Of course I went to a Good School. It was approved."

LOL Gigantaur

People genuinely don't see the humans behind these threads do they?

OP, search yourr county's records: you will find a big, probably remote sprawling hospital where kids with LD were palced when taken away from their parents. i;ve encountrered parnets who had to fight not to have relatively mildly disabled kids removed automatically on dx. It was just the way it was assumed to be. Had to be perhaps, pre state support for carers etc.

There's usually also a school somewhere that would mostly have had an intake on haughty kids, a sort of halfway borstal. My dad went to one for a bit, though he won't say much. he pulled himself up, I guess he was probably rare.

WRT to more expulsions yes but.

We know that expelled kids are far more likely to have SN / SEN. That is old news. So expel then if it ,eams they ahve access to alternative specialised provision by all means. Not if it means they just move on unsupported to face the same again on repeat until the state system gives up on them.

That happens too often.

maybe instead if we made sure kids ahve access to the help before it turrns nasty? I need ds1 to access a specialist As unit at comp level; all teh school etc agree that's frrankly his best hope. So up against teh very, very many other famillies also needing that few palces we will go.

The others will go into mainstream to cause trouble, wreck their own lives and disrupt otehr people's education.

Where's the sense in that then?

Get the place numbers sorted now, save a lot of trouble.