"Where were all the kids with ADHD 40 years ago then?"

[colditz]

Help me to answer my dad, who has delivered a fantastically ignorant diatribe (mainly along the lines of Ds1 "can't possibly be autistic, he's always smiling at me. He's a happy boy Colditz, he's not Autistic") but he has raised a point I can't answer.

Where were the children with ADHD 40 years ago?

Where were the children with High Functioning Autism?

According to him, and many people in their 50s, there WAS no ADHD, or CERTAINLY there wasn't in their school .... so ... where were they?

Gosh that was long. Sorry.

'Hyperactivity' was a working diagnosis in the 70's and 80's. I read the autobiography of the rock promoter Danny Sugarman and in the 60's (USA) he was diagnosed as being hyperactive and put on amphetamines in order to modify his behaviour at home and school.

That's a very good point - I'd completely forgotten our family GP in the 70s looking at my sister playing and telling my mother 'She's not hyperactive, she just acts as if she is.'

Wineonafridaynight - When I was in year 6 (1998-1999) my teacher told my parents I was the best in the class at English but that because my handwriting was 'bad' I had to stay in the remedial group!!! She was one of the worst teachers I ever had though, she told me in front of the class I didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of passing the 11+. I was one of the few children in the class who passed :D

Children who didn't fit in used to be put in remedial classes or schools for the maladjusted. Sounds dreadful to us now, but there were still children being classed as Educationally Subnormal at the end of the sixties.
A lot of children with ADHD and Autism would have ended up in that sort of provision, which is why a lot of people think they didn't exist. I also think that when children played out a lot more some of the hyperactive children were able to cope a lot better. When I was at school there was also an acceptance of "boys being boys".
There wasn't the emphasis on social skills that there is now either, which does put autistic people at a disadvantage.
Incidentally I am sure my father (92 and an ex engineer) is on the spectrum as is my DS2.

Minty good on you on the 11+! It's small inconsiderate comments like that that can really knock a child's confidence.

There werre kids around - I went to school with a couple, who, looking back, I can see now were probably on the autistic spectrum/had ADHD. They were the 'naughty' ones, and were constantly in the head's office etc. I often wondered what became of them, as they had no support at all.

Wineonafridaynight - the best part was when my Mother came to speak to her about it, I've never seen her so angry. The teacher tried to fob her off 'well I've been teaching year 6 for 20 years' to which my Mother replied 'yeah well you've been teaching my daughter for 4 weeks, I pushed her out so I think I'll be the one to judge her capabilities'. I'll never forget it, my Mum's a beast when angry

I was dreadfully upset initially though, as soon as Mum picked me up I burst into tears (held them in all day at school). It was a horrendous thing to say to a child, fortunately for me it made me more determined to pass but for so many children that would have really damaged their chances

Probably been mentioned but will repeat it anyway, they quite recently did a survey of people with ASD and found that guess what? Prevalance rates were about the same in older people as kids

No AS simply becuase it wasn't recognised as a disorder then (you either stayed at home, coped alone, were lucky or ended up as a depressive or even suicide case)

But the ASD ones yep, same levels so no actual rise, only back then they ahd different labels and names and retarded was an acceptable dx, nobody cared about specifics

ADHD I am not so aware of, personally I think the lack of exercise in a school day worsens what is probably an underlying disorder- ds2 has borderline ADD and dyspraxia and only gets 15 - 25 minutes of play in a school day compared to 1.2 hours when I was at comp- and I can see his behaviour (of teh wriggly inattentive kind, he has no naughtiness whatsoever) plummet comapred to when we are out being an active family.

There 's also a theory that people with traits increasingly marry people with traits- Silicpne Vleewy is a classic as people who have traits seem to shine in that field- and therefore produce diagnosable children. I am fairly sure sometrhing similar happened to us; DH is uber geek, former computer programmer and now trechy electronics bod, I am generally trait-y and very geeky / obsessive / detail orientated.... we have AS ds1; ds2 mentioned above; ds3 who has ASD and is quite severe; and ds4 who seems a bit OCD-ish.

(I am probably diagnosable btw, and at school stood out as odd kid but there wasn't a name for it; I was geeky, insular, had friends but really struggled with the friendships, constantly in detention for reading too much (yeah yeah I know, shit school), always messy and ver uncoordinated (used to get kept in at breaks to draw neat lines with a ruler)- in SN support for maths yet compelted primary English syllabus by 8. Preferred to sit alone at lunchtime thinking, and attrcted bullies like flies (and still do). I'd be picked up in a second these days but I cannot see point now, too old. It did throw my chances though- by teh time I lefts chool I was an under achieving wreck, compeltely messed up my life until about 25 (I was exceptionally immature for a start, as many with AS are) and then it just clicked- now graduate, good marriage etc. Still quite a lonely existence outsidemy family though, never had the childhood bonds or learned friendship-development skills everyone else had. Didn't really relaise until I was at school and needed to chat to another Mum about a PTA event (if its organised and structured I'm in LOL) and realised I just didn't have the ideas there of how to go about interrupting someone chatting away to say soemthing, and stood there rooted to the spot. The whole schema was compeltely absent and the more I considered it the mroe I reliased how much of the things I had problems with were becuase of that sort of issue. I have had the DX verbally confirmed by a specilaist I study with but that's enough for me now. twenty years ago woudl have been huge, now am OK enough- would like some friendships but it won't happen, I have a fairly 'flat' voice, dry SOH- I put people off.

Forty years ago kids with ADHD were either in special school or in mainstream and terrified by teachers with no understanding of their condition who shouted at them amd smacked them. They did however, have more outdoor play and therefore were able to use up excess energy more effectively -playing out in the fields, on bombed building sites etc ( yes, still these where I come from 40 years ago). Kids had more freedom to roam so a lot of ADHD behaviour would have been missed by parents cos it was taking place out on the street or where ever they played. It was both a far better and far worse time for them than today when society doesn't allow children to run free and expects them to stay indoors or in the confines of their own garden or to be entertained at organised clubs. As for autism, I know lots of (mainly) men middle aged plus who are clearly autistic. They mainly live with their mums and haven't really achieved their potential in the world of work due to being 'mis handled' at school. They were around 40 years ago but adults didn't see them as much (is my unprofessional theory).

Autism rates weren't really recorded until the 90s. Also, Autism was only entered in the DSM (the manual that contains all recognised mental disorders, used by Doctors) until 1980, so no proper diagnosis could be made before then. Also, in the 50s Autism was blamed on bad parenting - is it any surprise they were sent away or kept away from prying eyes?

The actor Richard Burton has a daughter called Jessica, diagnosed as autistic at about the time he was starting his affair with Liz Taylor. That was around 40 years ago, and she was put in a residential home for life at about aged 4. That's where the autistic kids were 40 years ago.

ASD was duagnosable from fities or so, AS only nineties

Autism rates stilla ren't centrally recorrded now: it's a key proposal in my latest Uni essay LOL- the NAS (IIRC) contacfetd every trust asking for diagnosis numbers and not even all teh trusts kept them. Until autism rates are centrally recorded they can't provide proper provisions but I am sure that acts as a motivator not to record as well of course.....

Apologies if this has been linked before- I skimmed through the thread, but didn't see it.

It's a link to a blogger's brief examination of autism prevalence, and his findings that the prevalence of "mental retardation" as a catch all diagnosis has dropped as diagnoses of autism have risen.

Bet we're all mystified by such an occurrence, eh?

That is an interesting one. What about those like DS who behave better in his home life than at school? This wasn't always true but is nowadays.

In home life I include playdates, around our friends and relatives as well as with us.

When I say that to the schools and nurseries and childminders who all have had problems with him since he was a year old, I am obviously making it up or just allowing him to do what he wants at home!

My home frinends have trouble seeing much wrong with DS, He can misbehave but really no more than a slighly highly strung typical 6 year old and in fact often playe incredibly well with other children. And yet school cannot cope with him without 20 hours of 1:1 through the week.

Don't get me wrong, I know ds has a problem and that is most probaly is not "NT" but
he most definitelty seems more normal in his home environment than in school.

So we face our friends thinking we are being over-protective and worrying unecessarily and the school asking us if we have attended parenting classes and wondering whether it is our parenting and assuming we are lying about his behaviour at home.

As I look at things I can see evidence of dyspraxia in my father, my sister, myself and my nephew. Also of ADD in both myself and my nephew.

Dh's nephew most definitley has ADHD and possible some other problems but those manifest themselves at home and at school. He is now 19 with a child having been in prison already. He did have some bad parenting though, as hid dad ia an alcoholic and there was an acrimonious divorce.

probably fed better food with less additives and disciplined more consistently

Old thread

that point of view can be very offensive,

my sister has severe autism, shes 19 needs 2 PA's cannot cook for herself, clean , I was her carer from being a young child myself.

has extremely limited speech, When someone asks me where people like her were 50 years ago, i reply 'they did exist, but where hidden away in institutions with loads of ECT surged through them,' usually shuts them up.

However I agree todays diets and lack of discipline can make unruly children, but don't throw it in with Autism which is a very real mental disability

just ignore walkinzombie - these threads always attract the knobs.

BB For a diagnosis the ADHD behaviour has to occur in more than one setting. So, e.g. home and school

My granddad was clearly on the autistic spectrum - he spent most of his primary school lessons standing on a chair, waste paper bin over his hands which had to be put on his head 'to stop him fidgeting and fiddling'. So sad for him - luckily his talent for art got him ascholarship to a specialist art school at 11 .

I sometimes wonder if I have Aspergers. I was a geeky obsessive child and my social skills are poor, although better now I;m older, How would I go about getting a diagnosis (if that is what I have) & is there any point getting a diagnosis as an adult?

All very interesting reading but I have to ask - although the diagnosis rates may be increasing and support given to school children who have more severe needs, is there any real benefit to being diagnosed in later teens or adulthood?

What medications do adults with ADHD get prescribed? Are these effective in your experience? Is there any help for Aspergers/Autism besides behavioural support/therapy?

I ask this as my DH has prescribed Ritalin in the 70s as a young child and then had brain scans a decade year ago, confirming a completely inactive frontal lobe. All that was suggested following diagnosis was anti-depressants which he didnt take as he was not depressed. Also he has several family members with (suspected) aspergers syndrome (undiagnosed) would they benefit treatment as adults?

To answer the OP wuestion: DH was the naughty boy who talked too much. His saving graces were good problem solving skills, memory and sporting skills.