More SEN, better diagnosis, lack of funding or a combination?

[genuinequestion235]

Genuine question:

I read a lot of threads on here relating to poor provisions and support for children with SEN. When I was a child I don't remember many children with SEN (3 spring to mind in my school of 200!)

So do people think more children have SEN needs? Or are we simply better at diagnosing?

What do you think???

Some were in special schools, some weren't making it into school at all, and some were hiding in plain sight.

Oh, and I suppose some died because infant medical care wasn't as good.

A combination more children with SEN and more diagnosis.

Interesting as why there maybe more children with SEN

I think modern life makes it harder to hide. When I was at school there was no Ofsted and if the weird kid at the back of the class sat colouring all day no one cared. Now there is much more pressure to engage in learning, some children really struggle with that (I have a DC with demand avoidant profile ASD).

Life is very fast and over stimulating. Sensory and information overload. It’s difficult to find peace and space to just be.

It's a combination of societal changes and better recognition/diagnosis.

Fifty years ago it didn't matter so much if little Mary was mildly dyslexic, because schools didn't have to meet increasingly exacting expectations from OFSTED/DfE, and Mary had lots of other skills to focus on.

Seventy years ago it didn't matter so much if little Pete focused almost exclusively on trains and wasn't very social - he'd grow up to be an engineer and that was fine.

A hundred years ago lots of people died because antibiotics hadn't been invented yet.

Things change, and schools these days aren't a kind place for most neurodivergent children. I'm firmly of the opinion that if they were, neurotypical children would benefit too and we'd probably see better mental health in teens/pre-teens. But we just had that deeply ableist thread on Mumsnet, didn't we, that showed that many people like to point fingers and put price tags on everything when it comes to meeting a disabled child's needs. I hope you're not one of them.

There are more children with SEN, probably because of advances in medical care. Even in special schools people are saying that the needs of the youngest children are far greater than the needs of the current sixth form when they were in reception.

Better diagnosis (I was diagnosed with something at 32 I was born with which now a lot of women are finding out their unborn baby will have at their 20 week scan)

Some of us were just labelled as odd, etc

Premature babies are now surviving and with that comes disability

Life is very fast and over stimulating. Sensory and information overload. It’s difficult to find peace and space to just be
I totally agree with that. Children at a very young age are no longer expected to learn to focus and concentrate as previous generation did. Children were expected to entertain themselves and not rely on constant stimuli that makes it so hard for them to focus on one thing for a long enough time. By the time they start school, they are already behind those who did learn at nursery and more importantly their parents to do so.

I also think that there is growing assumption that a child with ASD or ADHD have to receive outside interventions to be abl to become a well functioning adult. I think it is absolutely the case for some but not all. Many non diagnosed adults who struggle a bit at school have grown up to do just fine. My dad was certainly one of them. Really struggled at school with what would now have been diagnosed as ADHD, was considered naughtiness at the time. He had to leave school at 15, but once he got to evolve in what suited him (ie. being outside and active), he did very well. He ended up in high level roles and well paid. His maths skills are incredible and still are in his mid 70s.

More sen. I work in the field visiting different schools and it’s hard to find a reception class without a preverbal/ minimally verbal autistic kid. In more deprived areas there can be 3 or 4 in a reception class. There’s no way those kids have been missed in the past, we’re not talking the type of sen that could be dismissed as the odd kid colouring in the back. We’re talking minimal communication, significant attention and listening difficulties and often lots of behaviours. Nurseries are a similar story, so many kids with autism at the moment. Way higher than the estimates of 1/60- 1/100.

We’ve then got the extra impact of reduced funding meaning those kids are less supported than they would have been even 3 or 4 years ago. 1:1 TAs are becoming rare. This means the kids are being less supported to make progress and are likely to have higher support needs going forwards. It’s awful for families, children and their parents.

Something is happening my son is disabled and goes to a special school.in my LEA we have two special needs primary school ,s and two special needs secondary schools all.built within the psst 15-20 years
All.four have doubled in capacity over the past five years.

Something seem to be happening. My DC is at a special school. School keeps saying the co-hort changed completely in the last 10-15 years. Children attending the school have now significant higher needs than in the past. One of mine has a rare chromo disorder. I sometimes do wonder of these rare genetic issues are increasing because of the way we life, higher pollution yada yada yada ...

Maybe if they'd been born 20/30/40 years earlier they'd have died?

Mine also has a rare chromosome disorder ,myself and Dh have pondered this too.

Begs the question then as to why there is more 🤷‍♀️

My child also has a rare chromosome disorder he's severely autistic and severe learning disabilities however I had a normal pregnancy and birth and despite his disabilities he's always Been incredibly healthy so it,can,t account for all.

I have teen DS with multiple SEND (born with, but not obvious until starting school) and I have often wondered this.

Looking towards genetic testing (referred by consultant) to see if there is anything that joins the dots.

The population has increased in recent years so that might account for some increase in SEN.

Definitely more SEN - life is too much now. Education piles on pressure, is not forgiving at all to additional needs, then doesn’t have the funds and/or motivation to support the children who are being placed in intolerable environments.

I have 2 dc (so far) diagnosed autistic. I suspect neither would need their diagnoses had the been born 40 years earlier.

Can't account for all, no, but since serious disability is quite rare in children, it would only take a few children surviving previously unsurvivable difficulties to make a big change to the numbers of children needing help and the range/types of difficulties they have.

My child (and many other I know through various support groups) wouldn't have died. My DC (as it is the case with most other DC in similar circumstances I know) present with significant learning difficulties, often autism as well but physically, most are fit and well. There are no extra health needs.

Obviously not all. It only takes small changes to have big effects when you're talking about small minorities and services operating towards the edge of their capacity.

That's often said - however, I'm late-diagnosed autistic, and I wish it'd been possible to get diagnosed 40 years ago without all the social stigma that was attached to it, and it would've been particularly useful when I went to university (where I completely fell apart, in the 90s).

In my experience it's definitely better diagnosis.
I was at school in the 90's and described as a daydreamer, affectionately called 'away with the fairies' by my family, but absolutely hated by my teachers at school. I was screamed at because I couldn't pay attention, and made to sit on a separate table to eat my lunch because I took too long to eat. I remember one teacher told me I was unteachable. This was all in primary school, secondary was a bit better because I had more control over the way I can zone out. Nobody thought to assess me for anything because I could walk and talk essentially. Being a girl also means it's less likely to get a diagnosis of anything, even now.

My son is exactly the same as me, a little space cadet and on a waiting list to be assessed for ADHD. His school have been amazing and it's made me reflect on my childhood and on my own personality traits and how I should have been supported, compared to how I was treated in primary school. We have come a long way.

I think at the severe end (non-verbal, requiring personal care) we simply didn't see them in mainstream schools. I shudder to think about it now, but I think an awful lot of children weren't even in special schools back in the 70s and earlier. They were in asylums.
I know people who work at mencap day centres. Plenty of people with severe SEN attend who are aged over 50, so it certainly isn't new. The majority of those attending the centre were either kept at home or were in a facility of some sort.
The reality is that what has changed in terms of severe SEN is that the godawful asylums closed down (thank goodness for that), the level of stigma and shame, believe it or not, is much less than it would have been even 30 years ago and understanding has grown.

ADHD simply wasn't recognised. Neither was autism unless you were like 'Rain Man'. The condition really wasn't understood as being as incredibly varied as we now know it is. Chances are, just as many children had these conditions but were the 'weird' kid or the 'naughty' kid.
Certainly when I think back to my early school years in the late 70s/early 80s I can think of a few in my tiny village school who certainly would be considered SEN now.