To think there will be many more disabled adults in 20 years?

[Walkyrie]

I’m disabled myself, just to put that out there.

It just seems like the number of people with a disability, usually a psychiatric one, is going through the roof.

40% of disability benefit claimants are claiming for mental health related reasons. The number of anxious children and teens on here, and that I know in my own life and family, is really really high. So many schools refusers and kids in need of extra support, special school placements and so on. It seems there are a lot of unemployed young adults living at home who simply don’t have the mental acuity to get a job, live independently, have a life of their own.

3 children in my family are currently school refusing, one we only found out about today but it was not a surprise as she’s always been very anxious and has selective mutism.

My AIBU is, should we be doing something to prepare for what may be a very high number of adults not working in years to come? How will we sustain them all?

Completely agree with this. My DD is a teacher. In her first school she had 31 students, 5 of whom were high needs SEN. These 5 children ruined every lesson as they were so disruptive. Just keeping them under control took all her time. And of course, this meant that the other 26 were left to complete tasks with very little supervision. No one wins here. Not the SEN children, not the other children and certainly not my DD, who came home most nights and cried with exhaustion.

She moved abroad and now works in a SEN school. She has around 8 pupils in the class. She now LOVES her job, as she can give these children the attention they need (and deserve). In reality it's closer to babysitting than teaching, as these children are never going to work.

I knew mental illness and disability were reasons some Germans and others were consigned to the death camps, I didn’t know about the pre-Holocaust murdering, have looked it up and it’s called Aktion T4, I’m going to read more. Thanks for teaching me something new (and horrific).

You can't carry on working if your employers won't let you.

That's what happened to me. I kept getting fired, repeatedly, despite trying my best to stay in work (especially as my housing depended on it - I did end up homeless).

I didn't know about benefits at first, and when I did it was a case of basic Jobseekers under 25 rate and renting a room in an HMO - really really tight financially.

This was pre 2008 when it was much easier to get work, too.

And I STILL couldn't hold down a job for more than a few weeks.

Quite often employers would be kindly and even offer to accompany me to the GPs to seek (nonexistant) help. But they would point out I clearly wasn't well and couldn't continue in the role.

So it's not just about effort. There has to actually be suitable jobs for the person to do.

I have ptsd anxiety and depression. I was refused disability benefits twice when I was unwell. The dwp told me I was fit to work with a broken shoulder because the legislation says you have to break both limbs. Two years I broke my leg in three places. I was initially told I was fit to work and had to go to tribunal to get disability benefits (for a limited time)
Apparently people just got on with it in the 80s? A relative of mine had schizophrenia and ended his life

And in 48 years did no GP etc refer you for help or give you medication etc?
18 is very young to be written off for work almost 50 years ago when benefits were quite different to now.

Most disabled young people that I know do work. My DS1 16 is in a school to learn practical skills and he can then go on to work in a special supported work unit with gardening, cleaning, cooking etc.

and what has older parents goto do with anything

Well its not babysiitting and i hope your daughter isnt a ignorant as you
It may not look like an Education to you
But these children are being taught life skills enabling them to be as indepedent as possible.

Yes but nothing worked. Had assessments by the DSS/now DWP every 2 years. Think after a few years they just wrote me off.

You know there's a higher risk of down syndrome when the mother is older? And if the father is older there's a higher risk of autism

Don’t you think it’s all linked though, OP?

What are other countries that do not seem to have such problems doing differently ?

I think everywhere is having these same problems. But other comparable countries haven't damaged their health system with underinvestment to the extent that we have and their housing is significantly better (even if far from great). Also they didn't have austerity.

I don't think there are more disabled people but the definition of disabled has changed and life has changed. People talk a lot more about mental health and neurodiversity.

There's history of autism and adhd on both sides of my family, it was just never diagnosed. Relatives who now we would recognise as autistic or adhd just had to get on with it and find a job, none of them would have been considered disabled.

Families were much bigger then, there were 8 people in my dad's 3 bed family home, it wasn't an option for adult children to continue living there. They had to go out and earn as soon as they left school.

I have a relative with a genetic condition that means he is physically disabled, he had an adapted car and has worked his whole life.

I also think because of technological advances and decline in manufacturing there are fewer suitable jobs and people who do struggle now have the option to claim benefits instead. Lots of young people without any health issues are saying they can't find work.

Not all young people with autism are written off as unable to work though. Most functioning autistic people still have jobs.

Generalised sweeping statement. I have ptsd because I was stalked for over a year. I couldn't compartmentalise anything. I barely functioned for two years. I had to see a psychologist. You do know that there are adults on pip and lwrca. Some work and some don't

My uncle had schizophrenia. He worked when he was well enough. He was a teacher and before he died he was working in tourism. He killed himself. If someone is suffering from clinical depression it does not matter if they have a job or kids. It's not always enough to save them

The vast majority of people will have an abortion if Down’s is diagnosed though. Theres no huge influx of babies with Down’s syndrome.

The world of work is going to have to change in order to support people who are the disabled capable, of which there are many, and who just need a bit of help.

A lot of other people are going to have to accept that they're going to have to get their act together and start looking after themselves.

I appreciate this won't be popular and I'll be piled on for saying it but it's true.

People will eventually be forced to take some personal responsibility for their own lives, their own physical and mental health, and that of their offspring. There will eventually not be an option to opt out of taking personal responsibility and being accountable, like there is now. If playing the victim was an Olympic sport Britain would be breaking world records constantly. We are emotionally weak, emotionally crippled and emotionally immature and we are teaching our kids to be even worse.

I'm claiming for mental health benefits because I have mental health issues. I had to battle to get them. I got lwrca on the third attempt. Not for mental health but for a leg fracture. I got adult disability payment for both but both awards were short term.

I found the lwrca process horrible - and I won't put myself through that again.

Dyslexia is more than not being able to see words to read them. We’ve always had dyslexia and most kids learn to read and write from whichever phonetics or phonetic practice is in fashion.

It’s the frustration of not keeping up in a system that expects fluency by 7.
Having a different brain physiology means finding quicker solutions to problems, being better adapted to solving problems. It’s not really a disability.

There are definitely more disabled people. Many of the major conditions that disable people and cannot be faked are rising according to research (eg cancer, diabetes, MS) and deaths due to despair (overdoses, suicides etc) track with the increase in mental health disabilities. In the past many would have been supported by family because incomes were higher in many sectors of society and they wouldn't have had to claim benefits. That's changed now.

Then prices of everything and taxes go up to pay for it, and we're back to where we were.

While this BBC article also tackles some of the ethical issues that some have raised surrounding this, @Glowingup's assertion is correct.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-51658631

Im sorry but this rhetoric needs challenging. Some people don't find it easy to get their act together. As I said in previous posts. I had a relative with schizophrenia. He tried to kill himself when I was 13. I didn't find out until after he died. He committed suicide when I was 21.

As I said in previous posts. I have ptsd. I was stalked for 15 months. I got death threats. Parcels sent to my home. Photos of my house went online. I got help from police on the 7th attempt and I have ptsd. I wouldn't wish that on anyone

I had to give up work - because I couldn't cope. I was only working a zero hours job but it was in security. I almost got my head kicked in one night on a shift and I couldn't cope with everything all at once

I wasn't on benefits the entire time for specific reasons. But around three months after an event that happened because of one of my stalkers. I was told I was fit to work.

I had a breakdown in 2023. I tried to get lwrca again. Zero points. Fit to work. I spent 8 months seeing a psychologist

I waited 8 months to see a psychologist. Some people wait years. As I said above I finally got lcwra for a short period because of the leg break. Never for mental health issues

The adult disability payment process was a bit kinder. I was actually treated like a human being. I actually got my report from the last lwrca assessor. Apparently a week after a triple leg fracture I was reaching up to high cupboards and pouring myself oat milk (news to me)

Ps. Referring to people as "the disabled capable" is really poor. There are people who's mental health will fluctuate. I have a friend who is bipolar who is only alive because she was sectioned twice. She had a very good job but retired early (in her 50s). She was in the financial position to be able to