Negotiating the special-needs explosion
When Channel 4’s documentary The Great ADHD Myth?, presented by NHS psychiatrist Dr Max Pemberton, questioned whether ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder or a social construct, it created a backlash even before it was screened. The controversial film, which explored rising ADHD diagnoses (a 200-per-cent increase from 2020 to 2025) led to several ADHD organisations and clinicians criticising it for potentially spreading harmful doubt about the condition. ADHD UK warned the title alone could deter people from seeking help. Specialist services argued the debate distracts from long NHS waiting times.
Meanwhile, according to the Annual Population Survey in 2025, 12.3 per cent of young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) recorded learning difficulties or autism-spectrum condition as their primary health condition, up from 7.7 per cent in 2021. Separate data indicates autistic young people account for about 13.6 per cent of NEETs – the highest such figure in recent years and rising.
But does such categorisation signal a real health emergency? Even one of the architects of the ‘autism spectrum’, Dame Uta Frith – emeritus professor in cognitive development at University College London – has recently argued that today’s labeling is ‘too broad to be useful’ and so inclusive it’s become ‘completely meaningless’. Inevitably, she has been attacked by NGOs and charities who refute her criticism as betraying those with neurological challenges. To add to the mix, the tragic death of Cambridge academic Jason Arday, celebrated for overcoming the limits of his autism, has had an extra chilling impact over discussing autism as a distinct neurodevelopmental disorder or issues around medical over-diagnosis and the dangers self-diagnosis.
One author has taken on the task of untangling the special-needs explosion, especially as it pertains to schools. Dave Clements, in his book, The Crisis in the Classroom: How the special needs explosion is destroying education, asks why there’s a surge in children requiring special educational support. Clements combines personal accounts, research, media commentary and cultural analysis to explore what is it really like for children and families living with neurodiversity and confronts urgent questions about education and the rising levels of diagnosed needs and behavioural difficulties in schools. Clements both explores this rapid growth in identified needs, while also questioning common explanations for this trend. Arguing that that parents play a central role in understanding what is best for their children, he also that notes teachers remain vital in shaping classroom experience.
Can we have a more honest and critical conversation about how best to support those young people and their families who are diagnosed with conditions on the autism spectrum? How do we respond to the many parents and students who fear the government’s likely cut in school SEND provision in forthcoming legislation? Is this the latest example of medicalising the challenges of everyday life, encouraging the young to become depend on welfare and or pharmaceutical solutions?
How do we rethink policies and systems struggling to respond to the growing crisis in education today – what Baroness Amanda Spielman, Conservative peer and former Ofsted chief inspector, describes as ‘a plethora of problems in the SEND system that many in education are reluctant to acknowledge’? Is over-diagnosis an accurate explanation, or does it trivialise increasing numbers suffering real distress and belittling lived experience and identity?
