to ask this without expecting a backlash?

[Fleurflowering]

I know that people will accuse me of being goady etc, but I would like to ask these questions without a tirade of hate being posted at me. I'm genuinely ignorant about this and want to understand it better.

I was born in 1978. When I was at school, there was a flicker of a mention of autism, but it didn't seem to be commonplace.

Did children have autism? Did ADHD exist then? Or are these new problems and why have they arisen?

Every school class seems to have children with SEND - autism being very common. But, when I was at school, there were "Remedial" classes, but behaviour was nowhere near as bad as it seems to be nowadays and teachers didn't need to differentiate lessons like they have to now. I hear so many people saying that their kids are on the spectrum, or that they themselves have autism.

I also don't remember any school refusers. Is this a new mental health symptom, or are children more autonomous and possibly less resilient nowadays?

I know I'll be flamed, but I'm not denying these conditions exist. I'm trying to learn whether they are new or not.

And that the hyperactivity can be hyperactivity of brain activity and attention, rather than physical energy... oh look suddenly that means that a lot of women and girls who have been struggling their whole lives might just have an explanation... (sarcasm due to being bitter that sex inequality permeates even this)

If that's what you've taken away from that thread then I don't really know how to address that.

The OP's ADHD has caused her to have bad credit and be unable to apply for a mortgage. The thread is about the severity of the impact of the symptoms. unsurprisingly, people with a diverse range of severity of impacts are replying, because that's how people behave on a forum.

"and that's before masking, which means that you don't even need to have any symptoms (sic)..." - People - women, in particular, can often mask neurodiversity very well. I can assure you that it isn't a lack of symptoms, rather that they've developed a range of coping strategies to be able to manage their symptoms. I'm only sometimes late now, because I'm aware of my own inability to accurately estimate how long something will take, and of the passage of time. I have alarms on my phone every 15 minutes in the morning, and many of them are labelled with things like "Teeth should be cleaned by now" and "leave the house in the next 5 minutes" and "Absolute latest time to leave the house by". I cope with that aspect of my brain (mostly), but that doesn't mean that I don't have a disorder that makes my executive functioning around timekeeping harder than the average NT person finds it.

It’s lots of things. I think a lot of modern life makes it worse - as a child of the 70’s you could chill with a book, go for a walk, escape. But now everything is so fast, 24/7, screens, kids tv - cartoons go at 100mph with loud music, shouty presenters. Kids can’t leave the house unaccompanied until they are teenage. The world has speeded up so much and I think this all contributes.
Along with softer parenting, I think many kids used to thrive on a strict routine where they know what to expect.
Also I believe there is a link to parents being older. In the 70’s most parents would have been 20 somethings.

And the really severe ND kids I guess were institutionalised rather than being in mainstream schools.

This thread is eye opening.

I'm in my 60s. There were always school refusers, except we called it truant. There were remedial classes and they were separated from mainstream. On the whole we have much better understanding now. .

Sorry if this has already been shared, but there's a fascinating article here with Uta Frith - who is a neuroscientist whose work has defined much of the way Autism and ADHD is understood today. Even she says now that the spectrum idea has become too inclusive and is capturing people with a diagnosis that perhaps isn't really appropriate.

Here's the link to the article

I went to a school that was considered one of the best state primaries in the area in the 80s, and the difference between what we were taught and how to today's UK primaries is night and day. There was tons more singing, playing and crafts even into Juniors and we never had homework. Learning seemed very hodgepodge and there were many things that were taught that if you didn't pick up, then that was that really. (I've never learnt long division but was able to get through GCSE maths okay)
Also up to the 90s there were a lot more jobs you could just walk into as a teen, for example a greengrocer's assistant or a driver's mate, or trainee hairdresser etc if you hated school. A lot would have been cash in hand.
I'm supposed to be working so haven't RTFT sorry, but also just to add, massive comps weren't really a thing everywhere before New Labour. The first state secondary I went to was from 10-14 and had about 400 pupils. There were lots of little private schools about too that didn't cost a ton. We had one near us that my mum scathingly implied that that where was all the 'naughty' kids in our middle class area went to.
So lots of kids today that struggle today may have faired better in the smaller more relaxed schools I went to, but conversely, kids like my brother would do better today as he had poor executive function skills that was just seen as a personal failing back then, but would be supported now.

So what's changed? Is it just more well known now?

I was born in 1973 and don't know if anyone who had it in school. A couple of "naughty" kids maybe 🤔

I’m also a 1978 child and I hear you

now my own child is being assessed for ADHD as are a significant number of other children I know.
dh is convinced that the covid lockdowns are relevant. But there was a big increase in ADHD and autism diagnosis in the previous years so it can’t be the only factor.

it’s something I wonder about. There must be other societal factors at play combined with improved understanding IMO.

ETA I know so many kids some kind of school refusal. And I know the parents and you certainly can’t blame them. Agree with you that that really wasn’t a thing back in the 1980s/1990s.

Because it was more necessary to mask when the teachers could still beat you with sticks for acting autistically. Girls were better maskers, so got on with being depressed and hating every second if it. Boys got in to trouble more and played truant more. Which would be called school refusal or ebsa now. It wasn't better.

I am 61 and waiting on a diagnosis for adhd. I really struggled at school and did everything to stay home as I just couldn’t cope . Because I didn’t ‘get’ learning I was put into the classes with difficult kids, this made me worse as the noise and disruption was more than my sensitive personality could take . Fast forward to today I have found out what I’m good at and had a successful work career , never any problem getting good jobs . People don’t believe me when I say I left school with few qualifications. This in turn has given me the confidence I lacked as a child thinking I was just thick. an ADHD diagnosis will answer so many questions for me. It wasn’t until my daughter got diagnosed at 28 , I began looking at myself as we are very alike , her growing up as a child was like watching me . I never even thought about her having ADHD as even as recently as when she was at school it wasn’t recognised so much in girls

https://youtube.com/shorts/WH5zYErWmAQ?si=c9pQUWEWpPT3GiBW

You shouldn’t get any hate. It’s a question. Most are going to reply with an opinion anyway. So here’s mine.

i do think autism was around, im part of a few social circles and i have one where i think all of them are on the spectrum. Theyre old work mates and all share an awkwardness about them. Some of My husband friends wives are also definitely have some traits. Upon meeting one for the first time interrupted me saying she doesn’t do tedious small talk before walking off. I stood there and thought WTF. I had only literally met her and was talking about a camping trip we were all going on later that month. after that trip she had isolated herself from everyone and most avoid her now as she’s hard work. I just think she’s on the spectrum.

however I do believe it’s over diagnosed and also miss managed. I’m a SAHM so have taken both kids to and from school. I knew their class and have been an active mom with arranging play dates and helping fellow moms out with babysitting in school holidays & some of the kids with ADHD etc have the same thing in common. Absolute wet parents. No discipline, pandering and seem happy to have the excuse for bad behaviour. I have friends with kids diagnosed and I’ve been to their houses, playgroups and soft play and watched their toddlers bite, smack and scratch others with nothing more than a remember kind hands Harry as a response to it. No firm no, no time out just a thats not very nice, I watched a friends son bite a little girl on the face and when the girls mother came over she said well I didn’t see it (I had told her) and it’s to late to discipline him now. The girls mom wasn’t having any of it and told her daughter if this boy comes over to you ever again you’re to slap him and make a noise to get him away, (I dont agree with her before I’m attacked) but then it happened not 10 minutes after and her son came crying over as he’d been slapped and my friend was so upset and made a big song and dance approached the other mom and got a reply of I didn’t see it but if you can’t control your son she has to defend herself. She stormed off and left and was upset with me as I refused to comment either way.

I was in secondary school in the 80s. School refusal was most definitely a thing, it just wasn't called that. I knew multiple kids just in my year whose attendance was patchy at best and as the years went on tended to get worse.

Looking back with an adult eye there were clear indications that they had chaotic home lives and/or learning difficulties of one form or other. What they didn't have was any support from the school.

I'm the same age as you OP. Every family I know has at least one diagnosis. In my family we have 2 dyslexia diagnosis including me. The only reason I was diagnosed was there was a big push in the borough I grew up in (very lefty London) to test and diagnose and hand out free computers, £500 book allowance and a digital speller.
I have no idea if I am dyslexic or just mildly bad at spelling. Same with my daughter. We only got her tested privately so we could get extra time in SATS.

You pay for the diagnosis not the test.

I was born the same year as you OP. In the first couple of years of high school, early 90s, at least 3 boys in my form group were expelled because they were 'naughty' Looking back it's obvious to me that they were on the spectrum/ADHD. Then there were the 'misfits' the kids with no friends, who just didnt fit in. Neither 'naughty' nor disruptive. Just there, on their own with no support or social interaction. It's so obvious to me that all these children had some sort of SEN.
There was also the local Special schools. One was for the children with obvious SEND. Then there was the school we called the naughty school. That school basically had windowless cells in. I'm sure they called them time out rooms or something. I knew a couple of boys who went there. We thought of them then as naughty and not very clever, but fun to be around. Again, it's obvious now that they should have been diagnosed and given support. Not written off and locked in windowless rooms. It blows my mind that this was only the 1990s, which doesn't seem that long ago to me.

I was born in 1969, making me 56.
I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and ASD.
So... yes it existed.
People with these issues are born with it- it just doesn't manifest in later life but s exacerbated by hormonal changes ( in women) making diagnosis more likely around peri-menopause. In fact- my husband was convinced I had early onset dementia or something ( I dont- I knew I didnt)
I absolutely struggled at school, in social situations, friendship groups.
I always knew something was different but ADHD is portrayed a small boys bouncing off walls, rather than the internal mental hyperactivity. so I discounted that.
Its always been there- just not diagnosed.

Awareness and diagnostics.

Personally I think there was the same amount around, it's just behavioural standards were different and you had corporal punishment. I have ADHD, school was awful for me. One of the best days of my life was walking out the gate knowing I'd never have to go back.

Modern education is so rigid, high pressured and target driven that it is having a negative affect on ND children. My DS's teacher said that much of what she teaches her year 4s now is stuff that never used to be taught until year 7 and the kids who struggle to keep pace suffer. There is no room for flexibility. Class sizes are massive, how is an ND child with sensory issues supposed to cope in a class of over 30 noisy children? Children that would cope n a smaller class without so much pressure are now not coping.

Autism has always existed. My grandmother had a brother who was definately autistic, they went to a tiny village school. The head and his wife lived on site and the headteacher's wife would have him in the kitchen with her teaching him reading and writing in a way that suited him or he would be with the janitor helping him. He learned the basic skills to take up a trade and made more money than his academic brothers. Can you imagine that happening now!? He would be lost in a class of 30 kids and instead of learning in his own way he would probably be disruptive.

I was also born in 1973 and there was one boy in my junior school who spent break time putting peanuts into cracks in the wall in the playground.
One day he just stopped coming to school and we never found out why.

He wasn't the only kid in my school that behaved what we saw as 'weirdly' who just vanished in the end.

Of course now I understand where they went.

There are still special schools for children with SEND my son has bern attending one since he was four

I do think it was around but just not diagnosed.
What I’m struggling to understand is the amount of adults I see now sharing a diagnosis. In the last few months I’ve seen around 5 people sharing (via Facebook 🫣) that they’ve had an autism diagnosis. A few I’ve known quite well and I can’t see where this has come from.
I know people say there is masking. I don’t really understand this part.
Ive always struggled with communication etc, and think I have many autism/Aspergers traits that are quite visible. I do think it would have helped when people have taken great delight in telling me I’m quiet/nervous/rude.

Aw @IkeaMeatballGravy that is a lovely story!

It shouldn't be a controversial question, if anything we need to be thorough and look into as many possibilities why it's on the rise.

That being said, in my school (born mid 80s) we didn't use the term ADHD, just hyperactivity. Those kids were put into bottom set of the classes, often separated, and prescribed Ritalin. They had to work extra hard to achieve anything. Kids with autism struggled also but unlikely diagnosed, like myself who was labeled the weird kid. I avoided school often but it wasn't a problem with the school. Id often set off to school, wait for mum to leave for work then come home. School didn't care, government didn't care, parents didn't know. I managed to pass my gcses with b and c grades. Other 'weird' kids weren't so lucky.