Number of kids with LD or additional needs increasing?

[Curiocat]

Hi all,

This is a sensitive topic so want to start off by saying I'm in no way having a dig or being goady etc. From following aibu and other boards it seems like many parents have kids with some form of additional needs and numbers seem to have increased in recent years.

I wondered what the percentage of kids that will have SN/LDs and if the numbers are indeed on the rise, or is it that just that people are open about the issues their kids face, and we talk/are more aware about it more these days?

I could be completely wrong here- just an observation on my part from lurking the past few months, and of course massive well done/ admiration to all parents that do contend with this alongside all the other trials and tribulations that come with children! X

pilpiloni that is a bit of a sweeping statement

When my uncle then aged 3 was identified as being brain damaged at birth, it was advised that his mother should put him in an institution and get on with her life. People aren't hidden away on principle any more which increases our perception of SN.

Working in a mainstream school, our SEN lists will mainly have children that wouldn't have been integrated in.mainstream schools 30+ years ago and children that wouldn't have been identified, and would have struggled more than was necessary.

I was the child at school who couldn't make friends. I was strange because I would rather be reading a book than running about pointlessly. The staff got frustrated with me too, 'she's bright but can't seem to get it down', there's a huge discrepancy between between her verbal and written skills. I was left to get on with it when not being bullied by pupils and staff alike. This was fifty years ago.
I got my ASC diagnosis ten years ago, at the ripe old age of 47.
So yes, there's an increase, and the obvious one is recognition. However, population increase and better survival rates also play a part.
There's also the fact that we communicate so much more now. Thirty years ago we wouldn't have known how many incidences of ASCs were in, for example, Derbyshire, if we were living in Hampshire. Now we can find out in seconds.

Yes I agree MrsMook kids with special needs aren't institutionalized anymore. I've been recently discussing respite care with my social worker and told her I've been putting it off as I feel it makes me seem a failure. She responded with a generation ago your son would have been in an institution crooked you need the break.

I personally really dislike these threads.

Whether kindly meant or not I feel it is quite "othering" to point out that there are lots of posters with kids with SN around.

People are just people with children. I didn't come to MN because I was desperate to meet other people with kids with SN nor am I sad and lonely and therefore more likely to post online. I'm just a person with a child like anyone else.

There should be true integration and acceptance that everyone is just a child whatever their needs.

I would feel the same about a thread entitled "wow there are so many gay posters on MN" etc.

Anyway I can hide it as is my prerogative. To some who "don't know anyone with kids with SN I think they just post a lot on here" it is an interesting subject.

To me it's just my child. I didn't marry my cousin nor was I old. Nor is my child just someone who would have been a "weirdo" in days of yore.

I also hear a lot that in the past you wouldn't have seen my child as she would have been locked away and now she is "allowed out" you see a lot of kids with SN.

Well that is an absolute tragedy IMO. A very painful subject.

I would feel the same about a thread entitled "wow there are so many gay posters on MN" etc.

In fairness to the OP, that isn't an equivalent question.

My DH was "diagnosed" as "backwards" at school. He was diagnosed with ASD at age of 30 following a breakdown. I believe his earlier life would have been so much happier if there had been more awareness- and acceptance -40 years ago.

I don't really like this thread. What are you really asking?

I agree Fanjo

Is it because there are better diagnoses than 'retarded, simple, dumb, naughty, difficult, slow, lazy, disinterested, troubled, quiet, underachiever' that used to be put on people, because of better understanding of conditions?
Even 20 years ago, any help for ASD was unheard of. You could just about get a diagnosis if you persued the issue hard enough and didn't give up

Things have changed so much and now with better chances of those individuals getting the assistance they may need.

There's better diagnosis now and more awareness, though that could be better as this op shows, though it is getting there.

The older parents is a theory but both me and dh were young when we had our dc's and they both have asd.

MMR another, eldest had single jabs, youngest had MMR.

I've had the oh! we didn't have it my day convo with old dears in the street. Yes you did it was called phycosis(sp?) and people were put in institutions, or it was that odd neighbour, or strange member in the family you don't talk about, kind of think. Such a shame, but there it is.

It's not a label, its help and support, its part of them not what they are.

Sorry, I get a bit passionate

Yes, I agree with Fanjo too.

Have been reading an interesting book on ADHD which suggests formal schooling is a reason for increasing diagnosis. Requiring children to participate in school life, sitting quietly, following rules etc so (increasingly) early in life makes it easier to spot the "outliers".

Also the UK recently broadened it's medical definition of ADHD (now following the test used in the US) so more ADHD diagnosis.

although Ds disabilities/SN have a constant effect on him it has been commented that because generally he is happy and complaint (very much a rule follower) that it would be easy for his needs to go unnoticed. I can easily see that 10 years ago even he would have just been labelled 'quirky'

That said, even 10 years ago he probably wouldn't have survived to this stage anyway.

The educational system also makes differences heightened. From a very young age children are expected to conform to a classroom environment that for a lot of children of both sexes is unsuitable. The focus appears to be on targets, literacy and one size fits all learning.
DS1 (now 28) didn't fit that mould, he was being labelled 'naughty' I was told he wasn't that bright, just needed to learn to behave i.e. conform ..he wasn't..he was is very intelligent but with high need for physical stimulation...he got a prep school scholarship, P.E. was every day, minimum of 1.5 hrs..problems disappeared. and he started to sleep He needed a high level of routine also. When he got to senior school it all unravelled for him...with the focus on academics and little exercise in comparison. He has been diagnosed in his 20s with Aspergers.
I firmly believe that some..(not blanket!) conditions can be better managed by treating children as individuals.

Ahh..need to type quicker..Freddo

Re. Cousin marriage (mentioned higher up in the thread), this is absolutely a factor in certain areas in the UK (Bradford for one). The rate of quite rare & complex disorders are far more common and this is well recognised.

So much speculation and guessing on the causes of autism - it's REALLY not helpful. Most of it seems to blame the parents. Cousins marrying, not getting enough sunlight, age of parents.

It seems pretty obvious that this is a support site so will attract more people seeking support, lots of adults are now being diagnosed but went through school without that diagnosis, our prisons are full of adults who were failed by the education system because they didn't fit - I wonder how many had unidentified additional needs.

Schools are recognising additional needs and children on the Autisic spectrum are not dismissed as the odd kid as would have happened when I was at school yes Autisim was around in the 70s/80s but would have to be severe to be recognised iyswim so sen and additional needs are not on a rise they are just being recognised and acknowledged (sp).

And additional needs sometimes mean children might get extra help with reading etc if they are struggiling not all additional needs need a dx