I’ve just read One in 14 children (or rather their parents) are currently claiming DLA for ADHD or autism.

valdavi

I've never had a formal diagnosis but I'm sure I have ADHD. Professionals I've spoken to agree I likely have.
Autism does seem to be more common & it is proven that there's not a vaccination link, but no-one really knows why it's increasing. I don't buy the genetic theory that it's bound to increase (up-post), most of these things are less than 50% heritable & even if both parents have ADHD it doesn't mean their children will. But it also seems unlikely that it's all down to better diagnosis.

I was specifically talking about dyslexia where children are up yo 1 in 2 children with a dyslexic parent will inherit said condition. I do not know statistics on Autism or ADHD but I do know from experience that it tends to appear throughout a family and the genetic link exists. If I look at my own sons, one has hereditary medical conditions from his father and the other from me, perhaps their children will inherit both or none or even more thrown into the mix. I read a rather interesting article about it, I will attempt to find it.

I’ve seen no support here for benefit fraud FriedGreenTomatoes. I’m not convinced there’s a huge problem with bandwagon jumping. We are becoming better at recognising that dyslexia is a real thing, not something middle class parents say to excuse their not very bright child, as used to be said.

We are more aware that boys (it usually is boys) with areas of special interest and a preference for their own company might be on the spectrum

Those seven year old boys (again boys more prevalent) who can’t sit still, don’t focus in class, have a tendency to high expressed emotion might be adhd

Of course these children may not meet the diagnostic criteria but all children deserve the best we can give them

Benefit frauds like tax cheats need prosecuting
Good post viceversa

I’ve seen no support here for benefit fraud FriedGreenTomatoes.

Me neither Iam.
But this is quite probably the wrong demographic.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

^I’ve seen no support here for benefit fraud FriedGreenTomatoes.^

Me neither Iam.
But this is quite probably the wrong demographic.

I don’t know enough about the possible benefit fraud, but certainly I’ve seen a huge increase in parents demanding a diagnosis for their child, followed by a demand for extra help for their child.
That’s on top of the information from the class teacher, that certain children have issues that need assessing.
Sometimes, the violent verbal or even physical attacks by parents who don’t get what they want have risen.

FGT2 would you mind putting on a link to the original article?
Thanks

Who said this? When? and what was the basis of this claim?

Why has no one else asked for this statistic to be verified before commenting on it?

I have a grandchild with both autism and ADHD and it breaks my heart to hear anyone say it is bad behaviour or for benefits she is a lovely child who is neurodiverse. It is so hard for all of the family I wouldn’t wish their family life on anyone. It has taken several years just to get a diagnosis and that has been jumping through hoops. They have attended so many courses meetings and met with doctors attended assessments and it is an uphill struggle to try getting help for her. Please people try not to judge unless you have walked in that families shoes. They are a good loving family who’s child needs some help.

M0nica

Who said this? When? and what was the basis of this claim?

Why has no one else asked for this statistic to be verified before commenting on it?

I don't know where OP got her headline from but I had already posted this on the thread about welfare cuts viz:

www.gransnet.com/forums/chat/1346234-Sir-Keir-Starmer-has-vowed-to-press-ahead-with-savage-welfare-cuts-describing-the-current-system-as-unsustainable-indefensible-and-unfair

Over the last decade, the number of under-16s in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in England and Wales has doubled, reaching 682,000 in 2023, equivalent to one-in-sixteen children. This growing caseload has been driven almost entirely by awards made to children whose main condition is either a learning difficulty, behavioural disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In 2023, four-fifths of all Child DLA awards were for children whose main condition was one of these three.

www.resolutionfoundation.org/app/uploads/2024/08/Growing-Pressures.pdf

Thank you Silverbrook for supplying the relevant data. I couldn’t recall where I had read it (hence posting in ‘Chat’) but I recalled the percentage and was amazed by it.

This has also just been reported in The Guardian:

ADHD prescriptions in England have risen by 18% each year since pandemic.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/11/adhd-prescriptions-in-england-have-risen-by-18-each-year-since-pandemic

... though the article does not mention children.

Are you reassured now MandL?

Thanks for the link to the Guardian article Silverbrooks. The psychiatrists comments are as ever, research based and interesting.
I posted earlier that working at CAMHS 20 years ago, under the supervision of a psychiatrist who specialised in what the nursing staff ironically called ‘the naughty boys’ shifted the belief I arrived with, that these overactive, disruptive, easily distracted children had experienced disruptive attachments and trauma that were the root cause of their emotional and behavioural problems.
Some children on the verge of school exclusion were prescribed the Ritalin equivalent. Within 6 weeks, teachers were completing our usual behaviour checklists showing these children were calmer and more able to focus, to follow instructions.
I’m not a fan of medicating children, preferring a more holistic approach including schools and parents. I’m not the teacher with a class of 30 plus 7-8 year olds to teach, some of whom live chaotic home lives, some dyslexic, c some on the asd spectrum.

But what proprtion of those with behavioural difficulties etc have ADHD? And I would be interested to know what proportion of of those with ADHD are on any kind of disabiity benefit
We are a neurally diverse family. DS and I were diagnosed with dyspraxia 40 years ago and, while not formally diagnosed, it was recognise that DS and I had ADHD in the early 1990s. He has been on a list for official assessment for over 5 years. DGS is also awaiting assessment.

None of us, nor anyone else we know with ADHD, is on any kind of medication or any disability benefit. So adiagnosis of ADHD does not mean that you automatically qualify for a disability benefit, in fact I would think that very few children with ADHD did. The idea that ADHD children are physically uncontrollable and disruptive does the majority of children and people with ADHD a disservice.

MOnica, we are another neuro diverse family. One family member was diagnosed at 38 with adhd and dyslexia. His boys are neuro diverse. We have a male family member diagnosed as ASD aged 8. One of my adult children was diagnosed as dyslexic dis calculus aged 22 after getting a 2.1 in her degree. Her child is dyslexic.
None of them get or want any benefits. I agree with you, the idea that ADHD children are uncontrollable and disruptive is incorrect. Our adult diagnosed at 38 runs a successful business. He didn’t excel at school, needless to say he was seen as a bit of a class clown, rather than a boy with specific needs.

Before there were all these brain conditions required medicalisation, what happened about children who went untreated?

Do Grans remember during their own childhood such a high proportion of ' naughty' children at school or in their home neighbourhood?
I can recall only one child , one of my chums, who my parents described as "simple" who occasionally went into fits of temper and rushed at others with her hand ready to strike, She also wet the class room floor at the age of eleven. She ended up in the local 'asylum'. I still feel very sorry for her.

There was also an adult woman in the town who verbally abused people in the street and the kids were mostly scared of her.
That is only two persons whom I met during my 17 years in a town of about 8-10,000 people, and certainly I was not a cossetted child who was not allowed to go out and about.

Perhaps children with behaviour we'd now medicalise were simply regarded as too badly behaved to be allowed out in public and their parents kept them shut away in the house.

I used to work in a hospital as PA to a highly respected consultant paediatrician and she routinely prescribed Ritalin in the ‘90s saying it was a game changer. Calmer more manageable children.

My DGS1 was diagnosed as autistic at the age of three. The benefits he received were not financial but a huge amount of support in main stream education. From where I stand it seems that one of the main reasons for a diagnosis in the teenage years is to obtain extra time in exams which many of the youngsters, my DGS included , do not wish to have as they struggle with sitting in silence for several hours at a stretch as it is.A recent article in The Times suggested that the proportion of ASD students in private education is considerably higher than in main stream because those parents can afford to pay for a private diagnosis.

Surely diversity is what allow the human race to survive? 1 in 14 is only 7.14%.

Why is there so much bitterness in some of the comments?

FriedGreenTomatoes2

^I’ve seen no support here for benefit fraud FriedGreenTomatoes.^

Me neither Iam.
But this is quite probably the wrong demographic.

Which demographic are the scroungers please? Which demographic make up symptoms in order to gain benefit? Which demographic routinely lie and cheat and wouldn't know the truth is it jumped up and slapped them in the face?

Iam 64 answered my question. She wrote

"Our adult diagnosed at 38 runs a successful business. He didn’t excel at school, needless to say he was seen as a bit of a class clown, rather than a boy with specific needs."

Such persons were not medicalised. Once conditions are medicalised the neurodiverse person feels themself to be a case requiring extra help . The "class clown" is accepted as he is and not as 'neurodiverse '. I bet the girl clown would get shorter shrift from chums and teachers!

Same has happened with unhappiness. The unhappy individual often expects to go to their GP and get treated for unhappiness. Unhappiness is often named depression. Medical conditions are partly a cultural issue. There was a time in living memory when a cut knee was not taken to A and E but left to heal itself .

Depression is not unhappiness.

Politics Nerd, I agree . It is a cultural issue that we medicalise some conditions that are not in themselves either life threatening or painful. We should be more tolerant of people's diverse behaviours, and even appreciate diverse behaviours .

I don't deny some diverse behaviours are life threatening . One of my daughters in law teaches a small class of potentially dangerous children. No pens or other pointed instruments are permitted in the classroom.

Iam64, I agree about dyslexia. It's a real thing not disobedience or stupidity.

My son now aged nearly seventy remembers a boy being caned for writing back handed. He was actually left handed so the slope of his writing was backward. This was in the town grammar school too. My son agrees that at the time some of the younger teachers would not use the cane for anything let alone non -compliant handwriting.

glasshalffullagain

Depression is not unhappiness.

No, it most certainly is not.

Luminance

Well, I would say this all shows how poor understanding is of Autism and ADHD as well as other conditions. Many have a strong hereditary link. Which shows that society will become more neurodiverse over time. With something simple like dyslexia, if one parent is dyslexic resulting children have a 50% chance of inheriting. Both and the outcome is almost certain. Back in my day many children were just pushed into remedial classes and tagged as needing extra support but there was little knowledge or education as to why. Many in my generation have poor reading and writing skills or other cognitive issues and have gone into manual work with skills instead. Now children are expected to stay in school and have a right to an education children "show up" more where extra support is needed. Of course more people will be diagnosed now that they understand these conditions and of course that includes adults. Many of those adults have gone through life with depression and anxiety trying desperately to hide quirks and fit in. The amount of financial support offered highly depends on the diagnosis of highly trained professionals and the amount recieving that support is likely low given my experience of working in mental health. Unfortunately many adults still feel bullied and belittled by their peers rather than supported. I think that is what is really rather shocking, don't you?

Well said Luminance. A poster commented on bad parenting and 'wilful' children being the problem. Really? I worked with third sector charities and completely agree with your assessment.