Whether the change is down to the shifting of the Overton window or the demise of basic decency, one awful feature of the current national conversation is becoming clearer by the day: the demonisation of disabled and vulnerable children and young people – and their parents – by voices that seemingly know no shame at all.
The crude version of the “overdiagnosis” theory – essentially, the idea that such conditions as autism and ADHD are exaggerated and confected – is everywhere. Seemingly by law, every two-bit newspaper columnist must now write an annual piece about how the cutting edge of human psychology and child development is really just a byword for needless expense and sharp-elbowed families milking the state. A Facebook page used to find people to speak to the media recently appealed for a “mum who’s concerned her child’s school budget is being spent on pupils with special educational needs”. Aren’t there, the ad wondered, “more important things you feel the school should be spending money on? For example … computers, sports equipment etc?” The fee offered to anyone willing to stoop that low was £150.
