To think there is an ASD diagnosis epidemic for boys at the moment?

[SleepFreeZone]

My son is being investigated, my sisters boy has a diagnosis, one of the other Mothers at preschool is also undergoing an assessment for her son, my sister's friend's son has been diagnosed and obviously on here it seems every other post talks about a child with Autism or on the spectrum.

Do you think this is a new thing or that it's always been there but only now has a name? I am an older mum as is my sister as is my sister's friend so I'm wondering if this is one of the reasons for so many children having this condition now as so many people are having their children later 🤔

You are probably just noticing it now its on your radar - like getting the feeling that everyone around you is pregnant when you are yourself, or if you are ttc.

I think the milder forms are definitely being picked up where they weren't in the past. The question is do they all need diagnosing? I can't answer that as it's an individual thing and maybe the extra help improves the child's outcome in the end even if their ASD is very mild. It's also possible there is some overdiagnosing going on but that is to be expected with anything of such a broad nature.

As a kid there was no such thing but I can look back now and see the kids that had some form of ASD.

It was always there but before those children were considered naughty or odd. Today we recognise autism and people like my son receive help and some understanding.

My son's SENCO also has a son with an Autism diagnosis. I guess you are right though, when you're trying to buy a bathroom there are suddenly bathroom sales everywhere! 🙊

No such thing as "mild autism", Jaxing. Also, there is no "overdiagnosing" going on, as a brief look at the SN boards on here will show you.

I've heard lots of terms from 'mild autism' to borderline. I've also been told countless times that the spectrum is very broad and my son could just be slightly on it or something equally carefully worded.

No such thing as "mild autism"

Absolutely, it's a triad of impairments diagnosed by health professionals, a person either has autism or does not have autism.

That TV programme which refers to it as a linear progression is misleading so many people who don't have personal involvement to erroneous assumptions and conclusions.

My son is HF ASD and he only got diagnosed aged 9, I had always known there was something. He copes quite well in school and masks his ASD, it is friendships and socally where he has terrible difficulty. I am glad we got the dx because people were pointing the finger at him as a naughty child and it explains a lot. People are so judgy and we have never really recovered from this - he never gets play dates or party invites and it breaks my heart :(

Its being picked up now, in the olden days, people would have been labled thick, or naughty, or gormless or away with the fairys and its not an epidemic of people being diagnosed like people seem to think diagnose are handed out like smarties, well they arent, sometimes its a bloody long hard road to get a child a diagnoses.

Re The Autistic Spectrum.

themighty.com/2016/05/rebecca-burgess-comic-redesigns-the-autism-spectrum/

Ds is the type of child who would have previously easily slipped under the net, even now it has been commented that if it wasn't for the fact his school was so proactive things could have been missed.

But in fact his needs are severe enough that he qualified for an EHCP with no fight needed and gets 1-1 in school as well as still being under the care of a host of external agencies.

But because he is generally well behaved in school and pretty rule focused I can see how he could slip under the net sadly

blankmind that link was great 👍

It definitely feels quite black and white if you don't know about the condition. I get frustrated when I see the same things repeated re. hand flapping, tip toes, no eye contact as that is just some symptoms if your child has autism. My son doesn't do any of those things, nor does he line toys up but he does have speech and Lagrange problems and lack of concentration and focus which is going to cause us problems once he goes to school.

Vickibee so similar to my DS. We are having his review on Fri so hoping for details of his diagnosis then, they suspect autism, ADHD, sensory processing and dyspraxia. He is 9 and same as your DS masks it well but the social and friendship stuff is just getting trickier. He has counselling at school as well as 1:1s (he has a phonological processing issue too) and this helps a bit as the classroom is overwhelming at times.

I have everything crossed for Friday for some sort of diagnosis. My worry is that he may just not be 'bad' enough.

Thanks SleepFreeZone

As for all the tiresome comments and often denial by families and the people you really thought would understand and be helpful, have a wander over to the SN boards. Loads of very knowledgeable people over there who have invariably been through whatever's concerning you.

Sometimes it's just helpful to talk to people who truly understand.

Sorry for my clumsy wording of milder forms of Autism. I guess I meant less apparent presentations of it. As for misdiagnosis, it would be remarkable is there was literally zero cases of misdiagnosis. It would be the first thing in history to never have any misdiagnosis.

Jaxing why are you being so goady?

Being the parent of an autistic child is challenging enough without people being goady when they know next to nothing about the condition. There's plenty info about all kinds of neurodiversity online, please educate yourself.

Just echoing what lots have already said - I think also when your kids are around the age when lots are diagnosed it can seem to be popping up everywhere - is your DC 6-8 years old?

I can think of quite a few kids in my school years that had ASD without doubt. I hope they have a diagnosis now.

Also to echo what others have said - it isn't by any means easy to even get assessed nowadays - and they are genuinely rigorous in the tests. DC had the ADOS and they said he wasn't ASD but is ADHD with a few other things going on. When I saw the full gamut of tests it is very thorough.

Some paediatricians and GPs don't understand that a child may only have some of the symptoms though - I've heard parents told their child can make eye contact so can't be ASD.

Oh Jesus. I'm backing right out. Apologies for any misunderstanding.

I'm fully supportive of any children with ASD or any SN whatsoever.

Children with Asd can give eye contact, some can have fleeting eye contact, Asd children can smile and laugh.

My child would probably have been seen as having only learning difficulties or whatever the term was then and would not have participated in mainstream society.

My son is regarded as being severe but he has very good eye contact.

It's like I have a diagnosis of Rosacea as my skin flushes red and stays red when tired, stressed, after eating certain things etc. Just because I don't have all of the possible symptoms of Rosacea it doesn't mean that isn't my diagnosis.

So I'm trying to get my head around it all and my DS is 4 and yes I'm surrounded by people outside of his preschool saying they are convinced he is 'normal' 🙄