OUR once-mighty British Broadcasting Corporation recently aired a lunchtime series called The Autism Curve on Radio 4. It had a prime-time slot and was prime-time rubbish. It started with the rising numbers (up 800 per cent in 20 years between 1998 and 2018) and ended by reporting that the majority of the British population now described themselves as ‘neurodiverse’ and there is nothing to worry about!
The series took Autism Denial Syndrome to a whole new level. It was a step up to Autism Befuddlement Syndrome. We should know that anything designed to puncture the ‘arguments and conspiracy theories’ is going to be bad, and it was truly horrific.
In brief, it started with the numbers and a short description of what we are talking about, and observed deficits in social communication and relationships, with restricted interests and repetitive movements. It mentioned the ‘severity levels’ involving the requirement for help and support on a scale from minor to major. Professor Ginny Russell from University College London told us about her research using GP data to identify an 800 per cent increase in diagnosis between 1998 and 2018, largely in children. So far, so good.
However, the programme used the terrifying numbers in children to tell us that there must be up at least 1million ‘missing adults’as well as countless ‘missing women’ who were wrongly diagnosed with psychological or psychiatric conditions in the past. We heard about the ‘doubly marginalised’ black children who are ‘missed’ due to racism and ableism. A representative from the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network – a group that champions recognition and the self-expression of autistic people – was very much at the high functioning end of the spectrum. He might have struggled in life but he is able to function and speak for himself. The final straw was Ellie Middleton, a young woman, author and influencer who was backpacking in Asia, as you do! Listening to her talk about the need for ‘downtime’ to avoid ‘burnout’ during her trip was the icing on the cake of befuddlement.
The programme ended by telling us that we can’t get any answers! Befuddlement is complete! All the usual platitudes were trotted out: autism is a broader diagnosis now; there is greater awareness; we don’t know what’s causing it although we do know it is ‘largely genetic’ and too many older women are having children, and most of all, it is definitely nothing to do with the ‘fraudulent’ Andrew Wakefield or vaccines! The big message was everyone is autistic now and there is nothing to worry about – ‘everyone’s different!’
Indeed, Francesca Happé (appointed a CBE for services to autism in 2021), a professor in Cognitive Neuroscience at King’s College London, ended the series by telling us that the majority of the British population now identify as ‘neurodiverse’. She thought this was fine and dandy and ‘nothing to worry about’. This represents something of a new high in the autism madness, and a number of national newspapers did pick up on this point.
Sadly, this newspaper coverage largely repeated rather than debunked the autism befuddlement peddled by the BBC and a university whose staff should know better. Anne Dachel has done a brilliant job on what’s wrong in this case.
Despite being fronted by a father of a child with severe autism, the programme said nothing about the rising numbers of children with profound autism. There was nothing about the children who can’t speak for or look after themselves. There was nothing about regression into autism, as happened in our case. There was nothing about the heartache, divorce rates, costs to society and terrible loss of talent and contributions that could have been made. Most of all, in the episode headed ‘science’ there was nothing about the mountains of research into autism.
There is so much excellent research already published that helps us understand what has gone wrong in relation to brain development, biochemical and metabolic processing, the immune system and bowel problems. As I argued in a recent article, the BBC is not alone in being stuck in a psychological paradigm when there is a powerful biological paradigm emerging below, and this has to change. Taking a biological approach to autism would shed some light on the condition where it matters the most – at the most punishing end of the spectrum.
To any sane person the numbers of children being diagnosed with autism would ring alarm bells. In the 1970s, a paediatrician would rarely see a child with autism in their entire career. I’ve written before about how my mum used to work for the educational psychology service in Norfolk and they managed with a handful of staff. Now there are so many children queueing up for a diagnosis or a place in a special school that the lists are being closed and the new schools can’t be built fast enough.
There has been a 140 per cent increase in children with Education Care and Health Plans (ECHPs) between 2015 and 2024, rising from 240,000 to 576,000 in England alone and you don’t get one of these unless you need a great deal of help. The Children’s Commissioner has calculated that the number of children waiting for a first meeting with the relevant health service team is now 400,000, approximately 3 per cent of all the children living in England, and some of them wait for more than four years! The costs of providing education for the numbers of children with severe special needs is bankrupting local government – and this is almost entirely driven by children with autism who are so disabled that they can’t be educated in mainstream schools (and as every parent knows, there is immense pressure to stay in mainstream because it is cheaper).
There is a real crisis going on. The evidence is right in front of us. Any good journalist could tell a very powerful story about this frightening truth.
We don’t celebrate other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s or Alzheimer’s. We mourn the loss of the adults we knew. We shouldn’t celebrate severe autism either. Even as we love them more than we thought possible, we know our children are suffering and there are things we could do to help them – made more likely if we recognise autism as having a biological pathology that can be understood, treated and improved.
I know this will upset people who have proudly adopted the label ‘autistic’ and who use it to help make sense of their lives as they live them. I don’t want a fight, but I do want the celebrity autists and high-functioning people to think about our children. My son can’t walk down the road on his own let alone go on a backpacking trip or get a degree.
Maybe we need to go back to having different labels for the two ends of the spectrum? Aspergers and autism; high functioning and low functioning; mild and profound. Maybe the brilliant people at the top end of the spectrum can come up with a label (but please not ‘neurodiversity’ which is meaningless twaddle). Maybe us parents need to just adopt the label ‘profound autism’ and assert it with rage – shouting until people get it.
The BBC has befuddled itself. It has likely helped to further befuddle the nation. I find it befuddling that we have got to this point.
My plea is for all good clear-minded people to speak out for our children and our children’s children before it’s too late.
This article appeared on The Autism Tribune on May 10, 2025, and is republished by kind permission. (4) Autism Befuddlement Syndrome – by Jane Wills
