Unfortunate you have been downvoted because this is definitely the case. I am not actually sure that anyone disagrees with this, UK governments on both the left

Unfortunate you have been downvoted because this is definitely the case. I am not actually sure that anyone disagrees with this, UK governments on both the left and right have identified this. Ten years ago in the UK getting disability money for autism meant being non-verbal, requires extensive in-home care, unable to live independently, etc. Whatever you think about the definitions, it is very clearly not the same now and refers exclusively to some kind of social disorder. Rates of the former haven't changed significantly, rates of the latter are exploding. When I say this, I don't think people understand the scale here: in some regions of the UK as much 40% of primary-school age children are disabled. Spending in this area is projected to bankrupt many local governments...to be clear, these are economic units with multi-billion pound budgets and responsibility for basic societal functions. It is difficult to understate the extent to which this is an issue. I don't necessarily think people who engage in the over-diagnosis are ill-meaning: individuals are being given money to do this, psychologists are raking it in hand over fist, and the UK is now a place with a very effective disability lobby with lots of incentives to keep it all going. But it remains true despite all of this that it cannot continue. Just imo, the damage done already is close to irretrievable. The situation in UK schools is dire: teachers are frequently attacked physically (in some regions in the UK, this is so frequent and so little support is provided because of the inability to exclude "disabled" children that there are frequent staff walkouts), typical classes have 5-6 ASD assistants at all times, behaviour is so poor that other children are unable to learn, parenting of these children is non-existent because parents gain financially and the incentives to blame a medical condition rather than poor parenting are clear, etc. If you consider other trends, it is dire...we are talking about most of the workforce entrants coming out: many unable to speak English, can't perform basic tasks without support, zero impulse control, usually claiming benefits straight out of secondary...it is so bleak.