Anyone else noticing the uptick in open hostility towards people with ASD?

[FFSakeDrinkSake]

As the title says. It feels like it's open season recently. In the last few weeks alone I've seen many threads questioning the validity of Asd, the credentials of those diagnosing the condition, the 'explosion' of diagnosis', the 'fact' that you qualify for extra benefits if you are autistic and/or have ADHD, the apparent drain on resources kids with ASD have on the educational sector depriving others and most recently the idea that someone (self diagnosed) can 'outgrow' autism. Most of which contain the worst misinformation about what we're trying to deal with on a daily basis and making it sound like we're just trying to .. i dont even know tbh.. scam our way through life?

Disclaimer NATAAT.

I find that incredibly hard to believe. Your uncle discussing this is hugely unprofessional and a child would need to pass criteria to even go through the diagnosis process and he wild be the one doing the initial assessment criteria forms( inaccurately by the sounds of it).He sounds like a really poor GP.

Parents are quite rightly upset at having to wait 4 years to even get on to the waiting lists for assessment.

My son has only ever seen a paediatrician due to a heart murmur my other son has seen one for his acid reflux neither has seen one for autism both of them have it

@Periwinkl3
The behaviour of parents is abhorrent and the constant wanting EVERYTHING diagnosed and not understanding that things take time and in a lot of cases money the school doesn't have has broken her.

I can assure you that it isn't the parents fault. It most cases, they are on their knees with next to no support and help. Locally, our Asd assessment waiting list is 6-7 years. I have a DC who is hugely struggling, only attending school half of the time, suicidal, self harming. Since DC was only referred for assessment after asking for ages at 13, we probably won't even get a diagnosis on the children's pathway but will have to rejoin the adult queue in a few years. In the meantime, we cannot access the right support as a diagnosis is unfortunately the only gate opener and support is not given based 'on need'. There is no money, no support, no accountability. The NHS is broken, the education system doesn't work at all, even more so for those with SN. It's absolute hell for a lot of families with disabled children. At least the Senco can go home at night. For affected families, the nightmare is 24/7. I don't envy any Senco because they are caught between the state and the parents but to say it's the parents fault it's such an ignorant and shitty thing to do. Please educate yourself before you post on matters you clearly haven't got a clue about.

I think there is hostility - DD was diagnosed in November, she had been having various difficulties for some time, but when we approached school
about it, we were told that there was a 2+ year waiting list in our area unless she was in crisis (she wasn’t, she was just very very unhappy). We chose to go private, she scored quite highly for various autistic traits and received a diagnosis. We haven’t received any support from the SENDco at school because ‘you bought a diagnosis’. It’s really annoying.

luckily for us, her senior school seem more switched on.

It clearly varies by area. In my area, a diagnosis of ADHD or ASD is only given by a paediatrician.

Jesus Christ.

You make out that it's easy to get a diagnosis. It isn't. It is a long and detailed process.
Demanding a diagnosis because it 'sounds good'.
Are you nuts?
No one thinks it sounds good. It's a struggle and often stigmatised.

You can pay for a diagnosis. The affluent kids where I teach have a much higher SEN rate, because they pay for it.

I don't doubt some of the diagnoses. However others I massively do. I can think of one child in particular who has been enabled in awful behavior by his parents. He's apparently got adhd. He really hasn't.

I don't agree with this, in our Trust my GP has never seen my child in relation to her diagnosis, she had a variety of school based assessments by the body that deals with this in our region and then a number of meetings at their facilities, finally was seen by a specialist child psychologist before receiving a diagnosis.

At ni point was the GP involved in the assessment.

Anti social behaviour alone won't get anyone a diagnosis of ASD. If that's all you think ASD is then You are woefully ignorant.

It really should be a GP referring to a paediatrician and not a medically untrained person in a school gatekeeping something they don't know about.

I'm sorry about your burnt out friend @Purplebiscuitwithsprinkles and am glad she has a new job, as feeling like that is no good in the job she has.

We were so, so fortunate that our school believed and trusted us when we described the extreme and disregulated behaviour we saw at home, despite DC being "fine in school".

What I see as a secondary teacher is on top of the diagnosed/SEN status/EHCP kids we know about, a couple more in every class who have very obvious SEN difficulties but no paperwork.

Judgement and stigma is very damaging and as a country we need to pay much more attention to primary to secondary transition. I actually am beginning to think we need to dismantle the whole presumption that it's the appropriate thing to do to send DC from a small school to a big one at 11.

Actual diagnosed conditions like ASD and are at around 1/20 - it's nothing like as high as the furore would make you believe. Other developed countries have similar rates but (I'd guess, I'm not an expert) better functioning health and education systems.

@Shinyandnew1

It clearly varies by area. In my area, a diagnosis of ADHD or ASD is only given by a paediatrician.
That's peculiar. It's usually by a psychiatrist
Why would a paediatrician diagnose adhd or ASD. It's not typically their field.

DD only received an ADHD diagnosis at University as she was so good at masking until a big event occured which left her struggling.

It has made a lot of things make sense to us as a family suddenly but people who knew her as a child roll their eyes and comment about everyone getting diagnosed with it and jumping on the bandwagon.

Even her grandma is very dismissive, it's very upsetting.

And you state that he hasn't got ache based on your expertise and qualifications in that field and your detailed assessment of him we presume?

YANBU op and sadly your thread proves this

the responses oh everyone has it now or we all have traits or it’s not an excuse for bad parenting/behaviour etc etc

we have more awareness so of course this shall lead to more people being diagnosed it’s shocking so many children are waiting and parents are struggling with how to give the best support it’s a very complex diagnosis and every individuals needs will be different

unfortunately it’s the same with ADHD I was very saddened at family and friends responses

Doctors are allowed to talk about themes they see in their work. I have multiple doctors in my family and they all talk about goings on in the world. Some even talk about it on tv. It's just life. The patient or their parents are often given a criteria form to take home and they fill it in themselves. He's been a GP 35 years. Whether he's a poor GP or not in practice I don't know but he's experienced at least!

Paediatrician sees first in our area then a second professional who is usually a SaLT then back to paediatrician. All through child development centre a the hospital.

Wow.

we went private for a diagnosis for DD because she was in meltdown and we simply couldn’t wait the 2-3 YEARS it would take for her to be seen. She was assessed by specialists in a multi- disciplinary team and received a diagnosis.

i can assure you that we did not ‘pay for a diagnosis to flaunt the benefits system’ (we don’t get any benefits?!?). Having a diagnosis doesn’t ’sound good’ at all - DD was devastated when she was diagnosed and it’s largely down to attitudes like yours. Oh, and aside from at home, she doesn’t have bad behaviour - she has amazing school results and is never in trouble.

we went private because I was at a loss as to how to help her. No one wants to sit by and watch their 11 year old crying repeatedly that they are broken and useless and should just die.

we didn’t get much support from her school Sendco because she’s not in crisis (she masks massively at school) but she is still autistic, it takes a toll on her and her whole family and I shouldn’t have to justify our choice to go private for a diagnosis.

we we’re just lucky that we could afford it - so many other kids struggle along in silence because the parents can’t afford the £2.5k it takes to go private.

He is apparently discussing patient outcomes and dismissing autism. That is not ok. He should be assessing the forms, looking at patient history and deciding if there is enough evidence to pursue a diagnosis. If he is referring “countless” patients who aren’t getting a diagnosis he’s shit at screening alongside unprofessional.

@WithOneLook

ASD is the ADHD of 20 years ago. These things go in cycles and sadly in many ways it is a fashion.... If we look back at all the ADHD diagnosis of 20-30 years ago many were considered to 'grow out of it' and go on to live perfectly normal, healthy adult lives,
Such an ignorant comment. ADHD of 20 years ago?
Between 2000 and 2018 there was
• a 20-fold increase in ADHD diagnoses
• a 50-fold increase in ADHD prescriptions in men aged 18-29 (from 0.01% to 0.56%)

Since 2019, there has been a five-fold rise in people waiting to see an autism specialist and a 51% increase in prescriptions for ADHD medication,

There was no fashion 20 years ago for adhd. It has been increasing exponentially for the past 30 years and massively so in the past 2-3 years since the newer understanding of how it presents in women

Similarly ASD may present very differently in women that traditionally seen in males so a huge part of the upswing of seeking and receiving diagnosis are girls and women finally getting diagnosed.

1. Ed psychs don't tend to be the people who diagnose autism ; NICE guidelines recommend a multi agency team. It's a medical diagnosis. EPs are educationalists, not medics.
2. I know nowhere that has a policy of waiting for secondary school before making a diagnosis of anything
3. Autism diagnoses don't cost schools anything.

Yes.
There's a confirmed autism troll on here and MN are playing whack-a-twat with it.

Contempt. I notice contempt for people with ASD which is scary because that is how discrimination starts against vulnerable groups perceiving them as a threat to resources or taking 'unfair' advantages over others. I think heavy educational campaigns in the media are needed.

Exponentially does not mean what you think it means.

If diagnosis of spectrum conditions had increased"Exponentially", we'd all be diagnosed!