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.

I was born in the ‘50s. When I was growing up there were state day schools for those who were termed “physically handicapped” and “mentally handicapped.” They included ESN and SSN schools (“educationally sub normal” and “severely sub normal”) Those were the official terms, they are not mine.

Many or most of these were closed ?in the ‘80s with the stated aim of inclusion, with the children going into mainstream schools. In practice I have read that it was a cost-cutting measure, as the promised financial support for them was never sufficient.

There were also residential homes for “naughty boys”, some of whom had gone through the courts system, but not all. Some went home for the weekends.

That’s where the children you didn’t see were placed.

I definitely can think of a few children who would have probably been diagnosed as Asperger's type autism that I went to school with.

I only knew of one severely autistic child who went to a special school. There was also a very high tempered girl who used to throw chairs and stuff and was very compulsive. I'm sure she had ADHD. A few of my friends from school have been diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood.

But still, nothing like the numbers today. Personally I think there are three factors:

I think trauma can look like (or increase the likelihood of) neurodiversity in genetically susceptible people.

I think more people are diagnosed now due to awareness.

I think that also there must be some or many environmental factor(s) influencing the rise in numbers. Many things that are more prevalent now - air pollution, toxic forever chemicals, older parents, medication like SSRIs - have all been linked to increased rates.

It has always been there it is just we are better at diagnosing it. I don’t know if you have ever heard of Mary Temple Grandin known as Temple Grandin. Temple is an American woman who was born I think in 1947 and she was finally diagnosed in adulthood with autism, she is also a savant. Temples’ mother found a list of autistic traits when Temple was a teenager though and thought they fit her daughter. Temple is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and has written several books.

I wonder if the apparent increase in school refusal though is related to an increase in school leaving age and the fact that they are allowed to be children for longer and now have more freedom to express their opinions. When my father’s parents were children (1918 & 1926) you could leave school at 14 and my grandfather’s family needed the extra money. My grandfather had no choice but to get a job and grow up fast.

I was born in the seventies, did autism training in early 2000’s and asked the trainer if I had autism, as the triad of impairment described me 100%, the trainer said no as I had a job and autistic people couldn’t have jobs. I now have a diagnosis (and still have a job).
some signs that I’m autistic I think would be recognised early now, biege eating, food not touching, certain sounds, crying when we went to Tesco/fine fare/ other supermarket due to over stimulation, routine, difficulty with friendships, obsessions (special interests), difficulties talking, not being able to manage my own emotions etc

That poster has also described perfectly normal children. They do exist you know, despite every second poster on MN seeming to have ND children.

There was a lot of shame about autism years ago

My sister was born in 1992 and was assessed as a child and this is what my dad basically said to us - that if there was a line and there was a person with autism, my sister was behind that person with autism, - what we'd call these days, high functioning

But it was very much a secret as such and not somthing we spoke about, even to my sister. My mum was apparently advised to send her to a school better suited for her needs and was very much against it - my sister really really struggled in mainstream school too

Nobody knew she was autistic, she was just labelled a weird kid

I was born at a similar time to you. There was a girl in my class with “Aspergers” - she was diagnosed in the 80s but didn’t tell us until the 90s because it was seen as shameful (it was obvious from primary school that she wasn’t NT, we just didn’t know what autism was). DBro was one of the “E numbers” kids - actually really obvious ADHD.

A lot of these kids just left school - about 1/4 of DH’s class truanted and just didn’t turn up after age 14 or so. Far fewer consequences in those days, the school were mostly glad to get rid of them and they had no hope of any qualifications anyway so pointless them attending all round. Much easier to walk into a job with no qualifications in those days, and a shocking number of the girls (by today’s standards) were pregnant.

Well, you didn’t see profoundly autistic people because the norm was to conveniently lock them away in institutions. As to more “high functioning” autistic people… in every class in every school throughout the entire existence of schools, there’s been that one or two kids in each class who didn’t quite fit in. Think back to when you were young and I bet you can remember the ones from your own classes. The others thought they were weird, strange. They didn’t really have friends. Got into trouble quite a lot. Were perhaps really good at some subjects but didn’t engage at all with others. We’re either extremely shy or extremely bossy and rule driven. They’ve always been there, you just didn’t know what it was called.

As ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder its likely been around as long as humans have
so the question is, is it more common now because of changing environmental or age factors over the last 30 years or are we better at diagnosing it?
also i think the name should change as ADHD is the symptom of the underlying cause. It should be called DDD - dopamine deficiency disorder

In the mid 1970s I worked with a young mum who had a little boy with what we all thought were bad behaviour problems. I now realise he was most likely autistic but it wasn't something generally known about then. Since 2000 I've been aware that my son in law is autistic (he has an adult diagnosis after DD pressured him) and since the birth of my eldest grandchild, he is also autistic and watching him I am reminded of my colleagues little boy 😥

@Globules
“As a teacher, I can say it is far more prevalent now. It's not being over diagnosed either.” masking? I know people are very very resistant to suggestions that screens ‘cause neurodiversity’ but remembering my screen less childhood with high then undiagnosed ADHD and anxiety I spent a lot of time energy finding coping strategies. Some were great like reading, some less so- thrill seeking etc. I wonder if I could have constantly stimulated (entertained) myself with a screen whether I’d ever have coped in mainstream school.

The first time I was admitted to a psychiatric ward was when I was sixteen. I was having a treatment resistant depressive episode. At least that’s what was said at the time. My doctors now suspect it was burnout from masking all my life. School was a nightmare. I literally ran from the classroom when it got too much in the first few years. I would just bolt.
In the hospital there were loads of people who were 💯 on the spectrum but it wasn’t called autism then. They got different diagnoses and spent most of their lives in institutions. Nobody knew about them then. Unless you stepped into that world you wouldn’t, because they were hidden away.

There used to be far more enhanced provision available for children with additional needs than there is now. (Called special schools)
So children with very high needs would go there and not set foot in a mainstream school. Those who would be classed as high functioning ASD now would go to school but where labelled slow, a bit weird, go missing from school from time to time, no friends or always in trouble in school.
But due to budget cuts the enhanced provision schools were closed and children moved to mainstream with some 'support' in class. But classrooms are full of sensory overload so this isn't working for alot of children.

There are some enhanced provision bases attached to a few schools with a small amount of places available but it is hard to get a place and also the staff.

I am 51. I went to an all girls private school. I struggled with anxiety and “school refusal” ( prefer school avoidance as a term).
I received an autism diagnosis last year.

O can think of at least three others who had issues attending school. I can also now identify several classmates who are probably on the spectrum.

We’re just more knowledgeable about neuroscience and better equipped to understand and diagnose these conditions.

My granddad died in his 80s about 20 years ago. He was very obviously autistic, but in his era diagnosis was almost unheard of. My dad is almost 80. He is very obviously autistic, but was never diagnosed. Because that didn’t happen.

I was also born in 1978. I am autistic, diagnosed after my children both were, in my late 30’s. I was autistic back at school too, I was just considered ‘odd’ back then. I did have friends (more acquaintances) that I ‘socialised’ with after a fashion but most of my real friends were horses. Now I’m married, two kids etc and still odd.

My older brother is 73 and my parents were told that he was one of the first to be diagnosed with autism in UK in the late 1950s early 1960s. My sister once wrote in her school diary in the early 1960s “ my brother is autistic” and the teacher crossed it out and wrote artistic.

I was born in 1976. When I was at infant school there was a boy in my class who wasn't as clever as the rest of us. He wasn't naughty or anything, but obviously had learning difficulties. He didn't move up to our junior school. My son now goes to the same day centre provision as him. So I guess he went to the local special school once it was realised he wouldn't get on in mainstream past infant school.
My brother would now have been diagnosed with ADHD. He was disruptive, chatty, cheeky, couldn't keep still. His nickname was Fidget. My mum often called him hyperactive. He left school with hardly any qualifications, flitted through college courses and numerous jobs. Got diagnosed with depression, ending in taking his own life.
At primary school I was fine. The move to secondary school was when it all fell apart for me. I was very quiet, but just didn't do home work (just could never get it started, lived in my own world) the school made me see a child psychologist, but apart from a few sessions with him, I got no help. Just put on report for never doing homework. I was never badly behaved at school because I would never talk to anyone really. Diagnosed autistic 6 years ago, probably have ADHD too.
A friend of mine had a brother with autism. He was sent away to residential care from a young age.
Two of my children have autism. One also has learning disabilities so had an EHCP
(Or statement as they were back then) from a young age, and went to special school. The other also has ADHD, and it was when he was getting assessed that I realised I fit all the descriptors for both of them.

I'm glad kids these days are getting the right labels, rather than the "stupid" "lazy" "naughty" labels that me and my brother had growing up.

We had a special school near our school, I’m a 1970’s child. Loads of ND it was just hidden, masked or the weird / quirky kids. Loads of children with ND cope ok with school, it used to be under diagnosed as people were ignorant but now it’s more visual. School class sizes don’t help though where kids get limited support unless they’re lucky and have TA

@Fleurflowering I had the same experience, can't remember anyone throughout my schooldays who might have been 'on the spectrum'. Just one girl in secondary school who had anorexia. No allergies either.

When I first started teaching in 1991, they were just dismantling the special schools. Up until that point everyone with moderate or severe learning difficulties went to a special school. They were closing all the schools for moderate learning difficulties, and only those with the most severe were allowed to go to special school.
So we had one kid with Down's Syndrome begin at our school and it was unheard of and no-one was quite sure how to handle it.
I taught year 3. In my class I had 3 boys who could not read and all and one who obviously had special needs/learning difficulties, but who had no diagnosis.
There were several kids in each class with behaviour that was probably ADHD, and I can think of one in that class who was probably autistic.
None of them had any type of diagnosis, support or ed pysch assessment.

My dd has autism, as do 2 of my nephews. When my nephews were diagnosed, my SIL also got diagnosed. When we look at dh's familiy it is obvious that his father and most of his aunts and uncles are on the spectrum, but they all went through mainstream school and held down jobs, and none had a diagnosis, but they are all very autistic!

When my mum started teaching in 1962, her first class was 40 kids aged about 9 and there were 6 boys who could not read at all. It was considered normal.

Please note I am not saying that autism = not reading, just that special needs of all types were not assessed, diagnosed or reported on. They were just part of the class, and many fell through the gaps, and left school without an education.

I believe it existed, maybe not at the same scale, but wasn't understood. Pretty sure my Grandad was autistic now looking back (and he would be in his 90's if he was alive now), and also my mum. Remember people were written off if they didn't do well at school, bullied for being weird. There are lots of different characters in every town and village, of all generations. Some of those are likely undiagnosed, not given the chance to understand why they felt different, and stigmatised not celebrated for their differences.

I would also say in terms of how schools have changed, in the 1970s I spent reception and year 1 making models out of junk and painting. Eventually learn tot read and write, it was all very play based and relaxed, no pressure to perform, no constant assessment, no phonics test, no SATS, no grading, no school reports saying what level I was at, just things like 'steppemum is delightful to have in the class and loves to chat'

Even at secondary there was no exam pressure, and no hype pressure and stress over passing, and homework was a manageable amount, paced well over the week.

When I watch my own kids going through school it is amazing to me just have stressful and pressured school is now.

ND kids do not thrive on intense pressure and stress, and it quickly leads to them school refusing.

I was born 1978 too. I don't remember any kids at school being diagnosed as autistic but I definitely remember some who displayed behaviours that might indicate autism.
Behaviour was also horrendous, in secondary school at least.
Looking back I'm fairly certain that my mum was autistic. Growing up I just thought she had no empathy and no filter as she would sometimes say the most hurtful things. I think now she said them because to her they were true and she didn't think about how doing that might affect someone else.