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

Incidentally my DS will NEED extra time and a scribe even though his main diagnosis is Asperger's and that is because the one person that can carry out cognitive assessments has never been asked to because a mainstream SENCO said that there were no academic concerns, DS is currently working at a level on a par with children up to 6 years younger than him in core subjects and 8 years younger in other subjects, and Asperger's is considered to be a MILD SEN.

Flowers - that's not an automatic outcome of having an SN though anymore than the opposite is going to happen for everyone without one.

I'm sorry if that's your reality as you sound unhappy, but, that isn't the case for everyone.

Flowers as I said, I have an ASC diagnosis. I am a professional, as is dh, also Autistic.
Ds2 is in his third year at university.
Dd1 is off to uni this year, as is her twin.
They all have friends. They all have coping strategies. They all have as much right to be here as anybody else. Life as a person with Autism does not have to be the way you describe it. I'd also like to add that there are many, many ways in which life has been made easier for people due to the many talented and focussed people with autism that are on this planet. We would not be having this discussion for example, without Bill Gates.

yes but not all children or adults who have SN will suffer and there are plenty of non disabled people who are suffering. Also there are no certainties with anything. Someone said on here once that we are all one accident or illness away from being disabled.

2 of my children are suffering, the other 3 are not. We didn't know dS2 would suffer until he was about 4. Drs try to be as positive as they can ime and we have always been encouraged to not worry about things that might happen but to deal with it when they do. With DS4 we were told initially that he would have a minor fixable problem. What he has isn't genetic. His problems have got more severe as he has got older and he started suffering at about 14 months. He's not suffering all the time though, between operations he is mostly very happy.

Autism is as individual as the person i suppose.

It just breaks my heart watching my poor brother try to fumble through a world he doesn't understand

The thing is flowers with better awe renews and diagnosis comes more support and knowledge and happier children that turn into well adjusted adults. My eldest ds is one of these. He is not academic but he has friends and is doing the best he can and enjoying school and is happy. What more could we want for him at this stage.
My youngest has lots of support at school, loves school and has friends. Again what more could we want for him. Both of them are in mainstream with support, are coping and are happy.

I was pregnant with ds2 when ds1 got his dx, not that it matters.

My Dd who has severe classic autism is happy 95% of the time, indeed a lot more than most NT people.