To ask, if you’re a teacher

[Playingvideogames]

How many children in your class are diagnosed with autism or ADHD?

I often see the ‘1%’ quoted, but my anecdata is a lot higher than this.

This isn’t a value judgement thread btw, I’m truly just curious to see the responses and if they align with the ‘official’ statistic.

This thread suggests even your figures are massively off - the average seems to be at least 20%.

Class sizes will also be higher than 25, usually. 30 was standard when I was at school (90s/00s, England) but from what I've seen on MN they are frequently over 30 now.

Yes those are population figures, and not relating to SEN as a whole. SEN as a whole is estimated to be about 20% from various sources. It tends to vary hugely across different schools, though.

And yes I agree the answers are surprising.

I'm long since retired from teaching, but when I was in a private senior school in the 00's I would have had no information as to who was and who was not.

Now, the interesting question would be whether the educational experience would be better or worse with more knowledge

This is reflective of trends across the population - you tend to get more ND/SEN where there is poverty/deprivation, as well as general delays in development and lower educational attainment generally. It could be generational, as ADHD/ASD are highly heritable meaning parents may have struggled with education/employment themselves due to their own (probably undiagnosed) ND.

It might also be that signs are overlooked more easily in a child who is in an affluent, stable household with abundant resources and is otherwise developing well, so things like ADHD and "Aspergers" type autism make themselves known later, whereas a child who is growing up in a chaotic household with struggling parents and far fewer resources, less stable routine, more reliance on things like screen time might have more obvious outward signs from a younger age and/or might have more contact with professionals who could pick up that something isn't typical earlier on.

I teach KS1 so fewer with diagnosis as they are younger. Only one diagnosed with autism. Two on waiting list for ADHD assessment. One other that displays many traits of ADHD. I have two autistic daughters and can already see another four children in the class that I wouldn't be surprised if they were assessed at a later stage. Some of the above children and a couple of others also show many signs of dyslexia. This is more than I usually observe but I would be surprised if there were fewer than 5 ND children in any "average" class of 30.

I would say if 30% of the population have something then it is ‘typical’, if that makes sense.

Just a theory but Autism and ADHD have strong genetic links. Quite likely at least one parent may have one or another and have struggled with school/work themselves, leading to less successful outcomes.

As a (still serving) teacher this is always a fascinating question and the actual SEN support system, such as it is, is supposed to be based on needs anyway.

I am aware of research that found that randomly picking some students as "more able" meant teachers spent more time and attention on then and they achieved more.

I often see the ‘1%’ quoted, but my anecdata is a lot higher than this.

Where on earth are you seeing 1% quoted ?
It hasn't been that low for decades.

A school I trained in had 21 out of 30 students were on support plans for autism/adhd. Unsure how many were officially diagnosed

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question, and I wonder if wealth cushions to a certain extent. For instance, we hear of 'eccentric' wealthy people who require lots of rules and special treatment, but poorer people aren't allowed the luxury of being eccentric, if that makes sense. Ive always thought that money buys people accommodations, like the ability to have a personal assistant which many people with ND conditions would thrive if they had!
Edit for spelling

In my current year3/4 class I have 27 children, 2 on waiting lists for adhd and autism, 3 with formal diagnosis of autism or adhd and a further 2 who have behaviours/traits that could indicate these but have chaotic/abusive home lives and no sleep/trauma so very hard to diagnose

i have a further 2 on my Sen register for dyslexia (1 diagnosed 1 not) and 1 on the Sen register for speech/language.

I work in a non selective private school. Our numbers are so high- at least 40 pc diagnosed with SEN. Numbers are dropping though- so many leaving to go to the state system as VAT driving them out. It's sad and I fear how they will fare in such a larger school. But that threads been done to death!

Where I live there is no sharing of this kind of information, if I want my children's teachers to know about their diagnoses I have to tell them all individually. Even at primary school, that's 5-7 different staff members.

Most of the time this is a pain, but with my older son where he doesn't need a lot of support at school and the school system he is in is totally archaic, I have not mentioned it to most of his teachers and my assumption is that it's served him better, because I assume that a lot of his teachers may have old fashioned views about neurodiversity. However TBH when it has come up, that has never been the case at all, so I don't really know why I have made those assumptions.

It's hard to answer as diagnosis can take a long time. I have 29 kids in my class of 9-10 years olds and there are loads I suspect to be ND, maybe about 8. Many of their parents suspect their kids to be ND but I don't need it at school.

I'm in a mainstream tiny village school and teach y6. Usually more than 50%, one year was 75%

SENDCO here... in my school (primary, deprived area) I'd estimate as 5-7 in each class, possibly more in others.

NHS task force which is pretty robust quotes 3-5% ADHD

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/report-of-the-independent-adhd-taskforce-part-1/

BMA , National Autistic Society and government says 1% for autism . Now even if they were double that due to the massive waiting lists that is still way off what some posters suggest and infer when trying to discredit autism diagnoses.

https://www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/population-health/improving-the-health-of-specific-groups/autism-spectrum-disorder

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/what-is-autism

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-strategy-for-autistic-children-young-people-and-adults-2021-to-2026/the-national-strategy-for-autistic-children-young-people-and-adults-2021-to-2026

Math class of 27 year 9 boys last year.

9 had ADHD. Two more with severe anxiety. 2 ESOL. Some just very limited academically. Mixed ability class so a couple of very bright boys as well (big overlap with ADHD - a couple of those lads were quite academically capable but incapable of sitting for 20 minutes, let alone for an hour long formal assessment).

No TA.

In NZ having ADHD will not get you accomodations or TA time. You may get a fairly generic IEP but without time/staff/support it is hard to implement.

We worked hard on self-regulation.
We had a lot of fidget toys, gum, brain breaks etc.

Lots of repetitive structure - ADHD takes many forms and for many, whether hyperactive, distracted or inattentive type, having the same start to they lesson, to get everyone settled, offers security and calm.

There are other factors to consider - a school here has a reputation locally, described as "exceptional" by ofsted for their SEND support and inclusion, so they get much a higher % in their cohorts and people actively aeek to move their children/have it named in EHCPs. Whereas there is another school less than half a mile up the road where people can't seem to get their SEND kids out quick enough to move to other schools due to lack of support who no doubt have way lower %s despite otherwise being a v good school on paper

This is very true. Some schools do what is actually required of them for SEND (I'm not sure I can call it a good job because resources don't allow for that but we do the best we can with what we've got) and some just don't - this results in children moving schools and some schools having particularly large SEND registers.

In education, I increasingly hear that trauma is being misdiagnosed as ADHD, such as children exposed to domestic violence or who have suffered other ACEs. I don't know if these are more prevalent in socioeconomic groups but you'd imagine they are. I also very often see a high percentage of summer born boys on SEND registers but can't explain that as they are diagnosed and their symptoms very evident. But perhaps if they were in the year group below they would be a little better able to cope with the academic side of school and their needs would be less obvious.

Absolutely it does! For one thing you can pay for assessments and therapies that you need.

This is obviously wrong and it should be much easier to access a paediatrician and support on the NHS and schools should be able to access educational psychology advice (pre academisation this was possible through the LA).

But there are many barriers in addition to long waiting times. To give one example, where I live the LA offer occasional parenting courses for parents of kids with ASD and ADHD (different courses - our child is diagnosed with both so I suppose they were expecting us to attend both). We had to fill in complex referral forms and then when the courses were eventually offered, they were on weekdays in termtime, same day (so think like 4 Mondays 9-11am). We're teachers. We can't do that. So the courses are only for parents who don't work really or have really flexible employers.

Private parenting coaches let you choose a time and date of course. But it would have been very helpful to meet other parents in the same position.

A few years ago I had a class of 30. 10 were diagnose with either ASD or ADHD.
My current class of 32 has 6 with a diagnosis. There are another 4 or 5 who display many traits...

I teach 11 classes in a girls' grammar school. I have one or two with ASD in most of my classes. In Year 7 they are usually flagged as probable/possible ASD but undiagnosed.