(UK) Psychologist on ASD/ADHD: "Children like this have existed forever"; overdoing the labels

July 12, 2025, The Standard: I'm a child psychologist. Our obsession with diagnosis is ruining children's lives

I've noticed something amongst today’s children. When I see kids who are 'difficult', 'quiet' or 'hard to get to', they used to be known as just that. But now, more often than not, these kids have now been labelled as neurodivergent. Whether it’s ADHD, or attention deficit disorder or autism, young people under the age of 16 are increasingly being told they have incredibly serious, lifelong medical conditions. Kids now come up to me explaining their rude or brash behaviour as “on the spectrum”. We now have a whole generation of children told to interpret and explain their behaviour through diagnostic labels.

But who is this helping? In fact, is it helping anyone at all? I’ve worked with children as a psychologist for over ten years – and I’m becoming increasingly convinced that it is not.

The term neurodiversity term began appearing in the 90s as away to describe the huge variety of ways people function, socialise and exist in groups. No two brains are the same.

For an adult, diagnosed later in life, the neurodivergent label can be really helpful. Often, people who previously went undiagnosed find a sense of peace once they've realised they have ADHD or autism. It can be a sort of eureka moment, where they understand "that's why I felt that way…"

But with this relatively new term, its use in modern language has become worryingly prevalent. Rather than individuals understanding themselves through a route of self-discovery, we have begun to place labels onto the most vulnerable in our societies: children.

The question that needs to be asked is, who really benefits from the labels that children get burdened with? I would suggest that it is not, as one might expect, the children themselves. Perhaps then it's the adults? Teachers may find it easier to be sympathetic to a child who has the urge to run around the classroom in the knowledge that they have diagnosed ADHD.

We’ve become trigger happy with our new neurodiverse labelling gun

So these labels give teachers and parents a reason for young people’s behaviour. But children like this have existed forever. It’s not that neurodiverse conditions have suddenly started to afflict people, more that we have only just learnt how to diagnose it. And we’ve become trigger happy with our new neurodiverse labelling gun.

Autism diagnosis in young people has risen by nearly 800 per cent in the last 20 years. Still more are awaiting diagnosis due to NHS waiting lists being so jam packed. But it isn't the children themselves who are referring themselves for diagnoses – it’s parents, teachers and carers.

Diagnosis can be seen as a negative word. When we hear it, it is more often associated with illnesses and things to fear. You're diagnosed with psychosis and cancer; you're never diagnosed with happiness or peace. When a neurodivergent child is 'diagnosed', they're immediately provided with a very negative interpretation of the way adults and society will perceive them. Add onto this the full names of the two most common neurodiversity types, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and we have yet another word which can definitely be considered negative: disorder.

So, before a child has fully developed, they are diagnosed with a disorder. That’s disorientating. It's no wonder that a study has found that around 70% of children diagnosed with autism also suffer from depression and anxiety! Again, it’s worth asking who really benefits from these labels?