To find the growing narrative of over diagnosis (autism, adhd and mental health) upsetting and draining

[Frazzlesforever]

There seems to be a drip drip of press headlines and change in the conversation that too many people are getting diagnosed. And that some parents are being too pushy to get extra help or trying to get be benefits etc.

As the parent of a high masking autistic girl I had to push for diagnosis although the school just saw a highly compliant, quiet anxious child. My daughter is now extremely mentally unwell through not coping in school, has had to drop out of school missing her gcses, emergency CAMHs involvement - devastating for her and us.

She is exactly the type of child who would fall under the radar. Just an anxious child with over anxious parents. Apparently seeming to cope until she just couldn't. Surely if anything we need better understanding and support for these types of children not less. Otherwise we also risk kicking the problem down the road To severe problems in adulthood. - poor mental health/outcomes etc.

Someone in their 50s or 60e who appears to have lived a ‘normal’ life has only done so by masking for their entire lives
Or they've learned strategies which are NOT effortful to use so they are NOT masking.

You’re forgetting the comorbidity overlaps. A certain % will be both, which makes the total less on the population scale.

I do question your 15-20% ND though as the most recent estimates are 10% and that is when you include ASD, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Dyspraxia

Adding schools report 20% with SEN because you also have to add in all other disabilities that affect education- deaf, blind, paraplegic, mute, downs, etc

In addition, some of the people taking antidepressants are not mentally ill. Antidepressants are also used to treat neuropathy and migraines- forms of chronic pain.

For those who are given a diagnosis of Autism or ADHD, there is little ongoing support. And there is unlikely to be while so much NHS resource in terms of funds goes into the coffers of private providers with a contract that enables them to see children and adults for assessment under the Right to Choose legislation.
As others have said - support should be based on needs. I think enough is understood about ADHD and Autism now for people to self identify. If we start sneezing when the weather improves,we say we have hay fever and rake antihistamine - we don’t go to try to get a diagnosis.
People should be able to self identify and request reasonable adjustments. Then resources could be directed to shorter waits to try ADHD meds if required ( which do require more monitoring than antihistamines) and other actual support.

Yep, don’t get me started on how many people are diagnosed with EUPD when in fact they are autistic. Not saying that EUPD doesn’t exist…in many cases it does but it seems to have been the blanket diagnosis for when they couldn’t labs, it as anything else.

I teach under 7s.

It's nothing to do with the government or performance.

A Reception class in Sept 2026 will be so very different to how my Reception class were in Sept 2000.

In Sept 2000 children could do more on entry, and knew more, and problem solved more, and took risks, and didn't cry at the drop of a hat and mostly knew what was right/wrong behaviour and so many other differences.

Agree 100% and its usually women diagnosed with it, seen as difficult

Amen…I am sick of NHS cash being sent to private providers instead of being used to improve services in house. See also weight management.

Ok throw in dyslexia and stuff and a low percentage with physical disabilities.
The majority of the 20% is going to be ADHD & ASD. Its already known there is overlaps between ADHD, ASD, dyslexia and dyscalcula . I read something the other week suggesting 50% of dyslexics are also ADHD.

30 years ago what percentage were classed as SEN?
That has to be asked what has changed in schools to make the number so high?

You're completely ignoring the fact that many of those with mental health problems are also (likely undiagnosed, unsupported) nd - so there is huge crossover in those figures. "I would say" is not fact, it's not even really a robust theory.

So re AdHD- NHS group therapy that has helped massively with managing it and knowledge that there was a reason for all my lifelong struggles.

Re autism a hugely informative NHS report, an NHS support group and also knowledge that there was a reason for lifelong struggles which has helped massively with MH. I can tell medical practitioners now and have a hospital passport.

Both diagnoses have helped me support my dc with their significant MH struggles.

Re my Dc disgnosis has facilitated the right support on an EHCP, helped me and them understand their needs, triggered an CETR keeping them out of inpatient, enabled them to receive correct treatment and have treatment adjusted for ND, unlocked meds for adhd, made sure they’re not over medicated ( see STOMP), enabled them to have access to the dynamic support register….

The list is endless.

I think people are confusing over diagnosis with more people claiming benefits.

I haven’t got the figures, but imagine most people diagnosed with ASD/ADHD don’t claim disability benefits?

If I look at my school, I can see about a quarter of our children are on the spectrum. Their diagnosis won’t give them 1:1 support but it would give them access to interventions such as small group work or nurture group.

Disability benefits used to be for the extra cost due to having that disability. As a semi functioning adult there probably isn’t an additional cost to their life when they’ve received their late diagnosis, but the impact to understanding why they have always felt different is priceless.

It’s time to flip the coin, instead of saying there’s only a finite resource for neurodivergent children/adults, there needs to be more investment in support because this isn’t going away.

@YourJoyousDenimExpert
I think enough is understood about ADHD and Autism now for people to self identify. If we start sneezing when the weather improves,we say we have hay fever and rake antihistamine - we don’t go to try to get a diagnosis.
People should be able to self identify and request reasonable adjustments.

I disagree completely. The comments on here prove that too many do not understand autism or adhd at all.

This is subjective and humans are known for remembering the past with rose tinted glasses. It’s a hardwired mental health survival mechanism to forget the little irritations and keep the good.

And their parents didn’t have mobile phones. I’m sick of seeing (some, not all) parents with their kids but not engaging with them as they are on their phones. No wonder the social skills are lacking.

I get emergencies, I get that I only see a snapshot but that snapshot builds into a massive collage of parent after parent sat with the toddler in a buggy and engaging with their phone screen. I don’t mean briefly….i mean lengthy periods of time,

I just didn’t see that when my son was small. We didn’t have smartphones which are all consuming, we spoke to our children and engaged with them. The majority of parents still do. But some….just do not.

Indeed. A reception class back in 1960 would look as different again as a reception class in 2000. It's almost as if times and influences change and systems have to change with it, isn't it?

I did wonder this before I had my diagnosis but in actual fact, it was highly worth getting the diagnosis because although it is true that I could (and did) learn about autism even before my diagnosis, I didn’t have that deep an understanding of how it was impacting me. In particular, I bad no idea about my vulnerability to bullying. Knowing this and understanding this in detail has given me a greater ability to protect myself.

But I do agree an ADHD diagnosis is more useful due the fact that it is treatable.

@BottomsByTheirTops ❤️

My sister was diagnosed in her late 50s (as autistic) and frankly it has made her far more settled with who she is and able to manage her life better. For her the diagnosis has been a positive experience that allowed her to work something out for herself. She has had a successful career and raised a wonderful daughter (she is a widow late BIL died with niece was not 1 yet) she also has had 1 long term relationship but they parted. From the outside sister would appear successful and resourceful.
Her diagnosis has made her understand herself and how she influence others better. It has allowed her to change some behaviours to function better and be less of a force in her behaviours towards others.

Edited to add diagnosis

What on earth? Schools don’t cause SEN.
It’s not like the causal effect between schools full of asbestos and lung cancer.

What has changed is that instead of children being labelled naughty, hopeless, stupid, failed and caned, eventually expelled and scraping a living in poverty due to leaving school with no qualifications we are now more enlightened and realise these children are not naughty, and can actually excel if the right environment and education methods are used.

You have literally no idea.

Low attainment and need for support in reading, writing and maths qualifies for SEN. Then there are medical difficulties, disabilities….

• Total SEN Pupils: Over 1.7 million pupils in England have special educational needs, representing about 18.4% of the school population.
• Majority Setting: Most pupils with SEN are in mainstream state-funded primary and secondary schools, not special schools.
• Top Types of Need:
• Speech, Language, and Communication Needs (SLCN): 25.7% of pupils with SEN support.
• Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH):23.6% of pupils with SEN support.
• Moderate Learning Difficulty (MLD): 14.4% of pupils with SEN support.
• EHC Plans: 5.3% of pupils have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, with 56.2% of those with plans being educated in mainstream schools.
• Gender: SEN is more prevalent in boys, who make up 71.4% of pupils with an EHC plan

Speech is a big one and those behind are not all ND ditto those with SE &MH.

Notice the prevalence of boys having provision. ND girls are still being massively let down and underdiagnosed and it’s not ok.

I am very aware that you will all pile I and attack me but I think that you are being more than a little bit arrogant and defensive all at the same time. Can you explain what “normal” (NT) is because without that how can you be certain that everybody isn’t a little bit ND and a little bit NT too.
What percentage of people had these challenges 50 years ago and why more now?
I am genuinely not trying to goad but I too am extremely concerned about why these labels are being sought.
I can’t help but worry that some of this down to societal changes, both parents working, less stability at home, a greater emphasis on academia; the list is endless and I do worry that chasing labels isn’t actually the ultimate solution.

I think the growing trend of resentment is coming from social media as usual.

There are no end of videos from people who are usually self-diagnosed, making outrageous demands because of their supposed ND/MH conditions.

One that springs to mind was a girl who was outraged that her job wouldn't allow her to start whenever she wanted as she suffered from "time blindness". I think she worked as a waitress so it was obvious but this wasn't a reasonable adjustment.

Another was a mother who let her child draw all over the furniture and run riot in a restaurant and said it wasn't her fault because the child was ND. She was asked to leave made a video trying to arrange a boycott of the restaurant until it all came out that it was obviously just shitty parenting.

Unfortunately those types of videos go viral and really form a really negative narrative.

Absolutely i agree with this. I think it is totally right that academics etc have these conversations. It is the general narrative of press and politicians I'm referring to. And how they cheery pick and misinterpret nuanced academic discussions. Particularly in relation to benefits cuts and education reform etc.

They might not cause it but what are they doing differently that so many kids can't cope?

Chasing labels!!!