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.

Someone said wryly that the 'Neurodiverse outnumber the Neurotypical'

Then there is the absurd term ''Neurospicy'' and ''Neurokin'' which sounds like a paid of naughty puppies.

Here {according to this illustration} is how one can tell if someone is 'Neurotypical'

Illustration here : ''Neurotypical''

I do wonder how far the scale should go. And I say this knowing the struggles as I have a brother with Asperger's (as it was when he got his diagnosis).

I also work in an industry where I'd say it is very prevalent if undiagnosed in the over 40s.

But I wonder who this totally normal person is with zero ASD traits, no anxiety whatsoever, no disorganised thinking or other ADHD symptoms, 100% certain on them sexuality and who perfectly confirmed to gender stereotypes.

It's less about what's ASD and more about what are the normal struggles we can all except in life.

Why do you mention development delay in the context of an autism diagnosis? I mean obviously you should investigate causes of development delay but I don't understand how that has anything to do with an autism diagnosis.

But then when you look at your DC's school and there's only you and one other that had to pick up at the gate, your DC is the only one 'handed over' to staff, your DC is the only one not allowed on trips or can't cope with Sports day. It's pretty clear that her struggles aren't just the normal ones we can all expect in life.

It doesn’t seem to be coincidence that the vast majority of the mums I know either pushing for assessment or with a diagnosed child are from families of limited means. And there does seem to be an awful lot of ‘coaching’ going on - swapping tips, finding out where they can get a second opinion, how they can exercise their right to force an assessment, what to say to tick the right boxes. It isn’t unusual in our area to have families with 3 or 4 children, all diagnosed with ASD/ADHD/both. I don’t think they will ever release true figures as to how many have been diagnosed as the number will be shockingly high.

My primary concern is what our workforce will look like in around 15 years. If we have high numbers out of work now, we haven’t seen anything yet. I would be surprised if in future 70% of the population are in employment as so few children seem able to do basic things or communicate appropriately. It’s a massive concern

I think most people have traits but whether they are enough to merit a dx is sometimes questionable.

'so few children seem to be able to do basic things' - what basic things?

Agreed. I sometimes wonder how much teen mental health and anxiety would improve if their smart phones/games were simply taken away.

If your child isn't allowed on trips because of their autism that is discrimination and should not happen.

It depends if they can manage them in a different environment surely?

The ehcp counts for a lot though as they are harder to get than dla, so the dwp will take that as evidence. High rate care is only if they have night needs though so there usually needs to be supporting evidence for thst, is he on melatonin for example?

Is there a socio economic link with this.

No, they should do a risk assessment and put appropriate support in place to mitigate any risk.

They cannot exclude a child because of their disability.

In addition get the school to put in writing why they can't go on the trip. Make them squirm.

I don’t know if anyone has already said this, forgive me if they have as I’m still reading the thread but wanted to reply to this before I forget! Aspergers is ASD, it’s what used to be known as “high functioning” on the autism spectrum. However, in recent years, medical practitioners don’t diagnose Aspergers anymore. It’s diagnosed as ASD because the argument is that diagnosing someone with “high functioning” autism suggests that they don’t struggle in the same way as other people with ASD, but they do it just presents differently. A bit like how there are three different kinds of ADHD - inattentive (formerly would be diagnosed as ADD but professionals realised that hyperactivity is there but in the brain rather than being as visible on the outside), hyperactive and combined. They all have struggles and present differently. I have ADHD myself (inattentive) and have wider family and friends with both ASD/ADHD. Just thought explaining this could be useful!

Do you happen to know if this is the case for an organisation/charity that is supposed to work on travel training for autistic adults/kids. I don’t want to say which but my autistic DC is being refused part of a service to take them out and about as they can’t go out alone, because of their risk of running off

Lots of things shouldn't happen...but the reality is they do.

I often wonder if the advent of screens causes what people think is ‘social anxiety’ as it interferes with the development of communication skills. Rather than chatting on the school bus they’re all staring down at their phones. I would feel awkward looking somebody in the eye if I rarely had to do it

Many ASD children qualify for Disability Living Allowance, and adults with severe problems may qualify for Personal Independence Payment.

Well, they have to put reasonable adjustments into place so they can 'manage them'. That's the law. Doesn't mean they do it, though.

But I wonder who this totally normal person is with zero ASD traits, no anxiety whatsoever, no disorganised thinking or other ADHD symptoms, 100% certain on them sexuality and who perfectly confirmed to gender stereotypes this is an odd way of thinking ASD “traits” are just human behaviour, anxiety is part of the human experience, I don’t know what you mean by disorganised thinking, being sure you are attracted to one sex or the other isn’t niche or rare, stereotypes are built from the commonplace so presumably there are a fair few who fit those ideas. There are loads of people who aren’t nd of course there are.

There have been some studies that show different brain activity in those with ADHD

They just lied.

But how do you know they aren’t making adaptions. Sometimes with my son something unexpected happens and he is close to full on meltdown. At those times it is not a time for teaching him something or trying to make adaptions we just have to get through it the best we can at that point in time. So today we had a situation where something didn’t go to plan (a bus was very late, like 40 mins late and he got into a mindset that we would never get home), there was also a lot of people waiting for the bus so he thought we might not get on when it came. he ended up pacing, swearing and pushing me for a good 10 or 20 mins as he couldn’t cope with the situation. people near by probably thought I was allowing him to get away with this and not parenting him but I know at that point in time there is no point and potentially I would only make the situation worse. He is a teenager that is bigger than me so it’s difficult when they become dysregulated in public