is sn on the increase?

[spritefairy]

Now this is not to offend anyone with a child with sn but every other post seems to have someone who has a child with sn be it disabled or autistic. This makes me wonder.
Is sn on the increase or is it just diagnosed more than it used to be due to medical advances?

On Mumsnet it does appear that people fall into extremes: children have SNs, parents live in mansions, children are geniuses, children go to Eton, parents are in extreme poverty etc.

I think it is because those posts stand out more and also because you are more likely to post if you have something different to say than if your life is just average. For example, a thread on book bands attracts those who have a reception child reading Harry Potter and those who's child is in year 6 and has managed to read a sentence on their own for the first time and who is very proud. Others don't bother visiting the posts.

No one is average on the Internet.

Everyone seems to have a special needs child on mumsnet

Another difference is that in previous generations parents were happy that their children survived, never mind seeking diagnoses for non-life threatening SEN's.

Its only with peace, relatively higher standards of living, a lower child mortality rate and universal access to medical services that people have been able to study conditions like ASD.

Even 'obvious' conditions like vision impairment, spina bifida and DS are handled very differently now compared to 50 years ago.

No Tenieht, they don't.

Everyone seems to have a special needs child on mumsnet

That's probably because Mumsnet provided a valuable resource and connection to other parents who at times are totally housebound because of their children’s needs.

Oh yes they do. I'm super greedy having 3

I'm not passing judgement just notice that it comes up a lot .

Oh you are funny.

I have a DS with Aspergers so fall into that cliched category. I began using MN while I was looking for help with him so perhaps there's a higher concentration of parents with children with SEN because places such as this offer more support and advice than you'd get stood at the school gates.

It's people like us Brennan who hog the stock and prevent hardworking families from getting on the SN ladder.

Did you know that some MN posters have to rent their kids with SN from greedy BTLers?

High Fives ugger

Hi everyone - we've had a lot of reports about this thread and we would like to ask everyone to bear in mind that Mumsnet is a site for parental support. Please do remember this when posting, particularly in the light of the thread content.

high fives ugger

Fuckin' mobiles

Becca

You didn't link to the "This is my Child" campaign.

Tenieht Thu 13-Aug-15 14:14:37
"Everyone seems to have a special needs child on mumsnet"

Well, apart from the obvious - umm, no they dont - that should be...
"Everyone seems to have a child with special additional needs on mumsnet"

Just for future reference :)

I've got a special needs child.
It's fucking hard work.

Tenieght, how ridiculous you are.

It's very hard to get a diagnosis. They've stopped doing it at my local peaditraicians centre. We have to go to the next county.

It's due to media that people think there is more special needs about.

And people ignorance. There is astounding ignorance out there. And on here.

Special educational needs are not on the increase, according to the Department for Education. The percentage of kids on the SEN register has fallen for the last 3 years, and is now falling more sharply than ever before - www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2015

Of course, these numbers assume that all need is accurately identified by professionals, who have no other interest than meeting the child's educational needs through accurately targeted provision (dissolves into hysterical laughter)

There would have been more sen in the eighties/nineties, except it took til 29 for me to get anywhere near my asc diagnosis...!

Beyond that's true.

Years ago my DS would just be seen as the odd child who sometimes misbehaved. No one would have understand he can't help his behaviours as his brain is wired differently due to high functioning autism.

Nowadays many parents and teachers are aware of autism and seek a diagnosis when they suspect something is not quite right with their child.

The statistics seem to vary but it may be as much as one in a 80 or one in 100 children have ASD. Then other children have ADHD or sensory processing disorder or maybe physical or mental disabilities. So chances are we all have some sort of connection to someone with an SN.

I feel a bit sad about the tone of some of the posts above. I'm very upset to be one of the minority of parents who have a child with an SN. I'm worried about DS's future. I'm scared he'll be lonely and fail to get a job. He might never marry. He's a lovely little boy -very kind and funny - but he will struggle in life with things that come naturally to other children

Its totally heartbreaking for me that DS is one of this minority

Ugger, how weird that diagnoses for children have fallen under a tory gov!

Like how child poverty was eradicated as if by magic by making up a new definition

Bishop, I genuinely read your first post as 'I've bred three detectives', and thought briefly about what a lot of Gardai for one family.

The comments about 'Everyone on MN seems to have a child with SN' rile me, tbh. Like they were the latest must-have accessory. Or is the implication that some people are making it up for reasons unknown? Because out of all the things you could make up in an anonymous online forum - owning a Caribbean island, discovering fairies at the bottom of your garden, running over Katie Hopkins in your Mini - that's the one people would go for, having children whose needs you have to fight for.

Weird, isn't it beyond ?

It's almost as if there was a big change in the political landscape in 2010...