Childhood Lost

Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).

Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.

Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism

(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)

"What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless."

John Stone,

UK media editor, Age of Autism

"The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country."

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

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- Jun 11, 2019
- 2 min read

(UK) $14M (US) SPED shortfall in Cambridgeshire schools; 30% increase in SPED pupils

**June 7, 2019, Fenland Citizen: Special educational needs budget in Cambridgeshire faces £11 million [$14M US dollars] black hole https://www.fenlandcitizen.co.uk/news/special-educational-needs-budget-in-cambridgeshire-faces-11-million-black-hole-9072753/ Schools in Cambridgeshire face an £11 million funding shortfall in their special educational needs budget, according to the country's largest education union. … The Government said it had increased funding since 2015, from £5 billion to £6.3 billion, following demonstrations by parents of children with special educational needs in May. But the National Education Union says this does not take into account the increase in pupils that schools have to provide for, estimating they now face a funding shortfall of at least £1.2 billion… In January 2015, there were 3,099 youngsters in Cambridgeshire with either an EHC plan or their predecessors, which were known as statements of special educational needs. The budget for high needs pupils in 2015-16 stood at £67.8 million in today's terms, adjusted for inflation – the equivalent of £22,360 per pupil. In 2018-19, the budget had fallen to £65.9 million, but the number of pupils needing support had gone up by 23 per cent, to 3,822… Since then, the number of children with an EHC plan has increased by another 10per cent, reaching 4,198 in January 2019. … Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, said: "This is clearly a crisis, with pupils and parents bearing the brunt of real-terms funding cuts and the wholly inadequate planning by Government. "Thousands of children and young people are missing out on the education they need and deserve, causing misery and worry among families struggling to get support for their children." The NEU says a lack of funding across the country is now leading to cuts in specialist provision, a loss of specialist support staff, and *increased waiting times for assessment.*** When a parent asks the council to assess whether their child has additional needs, it must carry out an assessment and draw up a plan within a maximum of 20 weeks. In Cambridgeshire, 38 per cent of those referred in 2018 waited longer than this, an increase from 31 per cent the previous year. Of those with an EHC plan, 40, or 1 per cent, were not in education, employment or training at all….