To be confused by SEN, Autism, etc in children?

[Sallygoround631]

A sensitive topic, but I am curious, and hope that it isn't somehow improper to ask.
I admit to ignorance, because I don't have children, and I have not had much experience with children with SEN, Autism, allergies, etc.

What I want to know is, in your opinion, are there more kids with these issues now than, say, 40 years ago, when was a kid in the 80's? (when everything was put down to orange smarties and over activeness)

Was it simply less diagnosed or unknown, and put down to other, behavioural issues?
If so, then I am very glad we are no longer living with such ignorance.
But I am also curious to know if these cases have increased, or merely been there all along?

If they have increased, what are the reasons? Does anyone know?

I feel this is a tender topic and do not wish to cause upset. I am absolutely out of the loop and would love to hear about it.

Educate me!

@Sallygoround631

When people talk fo a 'spectrum', do any of you think we are all on it?

I wonder what it means to be considered well adjusted.
reminds me of that Netflix series 'the OA' where the lead character says "to be well adjusted in a diseased society is not a true measure of health"
Or something similar.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts.

I'm sure someone has already said this, not RTFT, but "the spectrum" is not what you think it is.

It's not a scale from "not at all autistic" to "massively autistic".

It's called a spectrum because there are many "shades" of autistic people, presenting very differently, but they are all autistic.

Look it up.

My experience of being a child in the 80s if that many kids with additional needs were harshly punished and left without suitable education.

I'm very happy things are improving.

lots of very different people are all being classed as being 'autistic' and therefore being told that there is something wrong with them

Autistic people (no need for inverted commas, we are real) are as different from one another as neurotypicals are. Diagnosis wasn't 'being told there was something wrong', it was finally understanding myself after years of not fitting in. I am very thankful my autistic dc has this understanding at a young age. I'd be the same person without a diagnosis, but I'd still be struggling to cope with a big chunk of self-knowledge missing. Diagnosis was a huge relief.

There was a trial (I can’t remember where or how many children) where apparently 80% of autistic kids had improvement in behaviours when put on a high dose of vit D supplement

This makes me feel very uncomfortable. I'd like to know what constitutes 'good behaviour' and why it's 'improved'. E.g. my behaviour at school was pretty good because I was great at masking my autism. That might sound good but actually has caused me big mental health problems throughout my life, because it's stressful and distressing not being able to be yourself. Surely our wellbeing ought to be measured by things like levels of anxiety, stress, depression, etc rather than 'improved behaviour' which sounds uncomfortably close to just getting a pat on the back for better masking?

I expect as most of us have vitamin D deficiency that most children would feel better and maybe therefore act better if they were supplemented. What is a high dose?

When I went to primary school it was in a very deprived area, I don't know if this is why but there were sooo many Dc who would definitely be considered SEN dc now that we're being forced through mainstream school.

It was awful for everyone. Whenever a SEN kicked off and tried to injure other dc it was so scary. This happened a number of times with different dc. One day one of the dc went off, screaming and kicking the teacher, the teacher pushed the dc into an empty broom cupboard and locked the door. The whole class then got taught whilst the dc tried to kick the door down. It was awful. We were torn between feeling glad safe that the dc couldn't hurt us and feeling bad they were stuck in the cupboard screaming and kicking.

Nowadays that dc would undoubtedly not fall under 'naughty dc'!

a SEN

I'm sure you didn't mean to be so offensive but it's not the done thing to refer to a child with SEN and/or SN as "a SEN".

I haven't rtft and I am sorry. But there are significantly less schools to cater to students with additional needs AND there was a lot more "If you can manage at school you don't have a problem" . I was not diagnosed as autistic in the 80s because I was in a mainstream school doing very well. It was literally my mum saying something is wrong she does x/y/z and the doctor suggesting as my mum had been a teenage parent she should just parent better. I mean she was a shit parent but to be fair, I had problems that with her problems she wasn't fit to deal with.

My daughter has similar issues and I've met with more understanding from doctors and school but diagnosis is super slow, they don't care, but they at least don't instantly assume it's my parenting - then again I wasn't a teen nor alchoholic parent, I've never considered it that way actually (!)

@BlatantlyNameChanged I meant to write a SEN dc, is that also offensive? Apologies for any offence caused.

Some fantastic explanations and thoughts on this thread. FWIW OP, I am a mum of children with SEN and have also been wondering exactly the same thing recently. I think you've taken care to phrase your questions really well.

I don't have much to add except that I wonder how much the academic-isation (not a word, obviously!) of our schools has also got something to do with it. More pressure, less individual support and attention, more focus on assessments than the development of the whole child, significantly less time outdoors and in free play means fewer opportunities for free play means significantly less support and opportunities for children to practice foundational skills that are essential to their growth and development.

About the vitamin D: it is certainly true that many people in the UK could do with more vitamin D, especially in the autumn and winter. And that this can have negative effects on the bones, and probably on the immune system. But I doubt that it causes autism or ADHD - or the proportion of people with these conditions would have been very much higher in the past, when air pollution, smogs hiding the sun in cities, and serious malnutrition caused many children to have rickets. Of course, it's not impossible that it was, but that these conditions went undiagnosed.