To the optimist, it may seem as though we are at last emerging from a dark age when it comes to children with neurological and learning disorders. After decades of tireless campaigning, life for those with ADHD, autism and dyslexia is getting better. We have come a long way from the playground slurs of the 1990s or the 1970s idea that emotionally withdrawn “refrigerator mothers” caused autism.
In fact, the speed and scale of the change has alarmed some experts. A new worry has emerged: over-diagnosis. Over the past 20 years, for example, there has been a near 800% rise in the numbers of children diagnosed with autism, and ADHD diagnosis has similarly exploded. Fear of tarring children with these labels once kept numbers down, are we now applying them too liberally?
Meanwhile, a recent report showed that almost a third of children are now eligible for extra time in exams – two in five of those at private schools. This kindled…