Breeding a Nation of Zombies?
The cost of educating children with special educational needs is putting enormous pressure on council budgets.
And there is one condition that is receiving a great deal of attention at the moment – attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
It is defined here as ‘a neurodevelopmental difference (that is, a difference in the way the brain develops as children grow up), which is defined by behaviour. The major features are higher levels of impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention than are seen in their same-aged peers.’
Experts are not entirely sure whether rates are increasing or whether there is now better awareness and more diagnoses.
One study showed that children born in July and August are at least 40 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with – and to receive prescriptions for – ADHD, than children born in September and October.
Boys are more likely to have ADHD than girls with one study showing that out of 10,438 children between the ages of five and 15, 3.62 per cent of boys and 0.85 per cent of girls had ADHD.
ADHD UK says: “We believe the best data for the UK is from the Lancet and NICE giving a childhood incidence rate of five per cent and an adult incidence rate of three-four per cent. That provides for a total estimate of 2.6million people in the UK with ADHD (694,000 children, 1.9 million).”
It adds: “There is no one cause of ADHD. It is considered to be a result of an often complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors – with genetic factors being responsible for 70 per cent-to-80 per cent of the probability.”
However, one expert has identified a reason for the increase in ‘acquired ADHD’, that is when a child is not born with the condition but picks it up.
Dr Sanjiv Nichani has identified a ‘screendemic’ – a doom-scrolling addiction that is causing major issues.
In an interview with The Times, the consultant at Leicester Children’s Hospital said: “I’ve lost count of the number of times the teenager would be shifting in their chair very uncomfortably when I asked about hobbies…The parents would be looking beseechingly at me: ‘Please, ask them this question.’ The answer was normally: nothing. They retreat to their rooms and spend hours on apps. Their personality has changed. They don’t sleep as well. Their academic performance has dropped. They’re impulsive and irritable.”
This will sound familiar to teachers and parents who report more and more children being so affected.
Teachers and parents will also be pleased to hear that Nichani offers a treatment: exercise.
Just 30-45 minutes of movement three times a week. After this the neurological gains are visible.
Children sleep better. Their attention recovers. Their mood stabilises. Irritability fades.
“Movement is the medicine the brain was built for,” he said.
The interview states: “Movement normalises the neurochemistry that screens destabilise. Exercise raises serotonin (the mood stabiliser), dopamine (motivation and focus) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (the brain’s tranquilliser) levels, while lowering cortisol, the stress hormone that is elevated by digital overstimulation.”
He says exercise mirrors precisely what psychiatric medications — for children or adults — aim to achieve.
Nichani also recommends a ban on phones in schools and has created a guide about how long children ought to sit in front of screens, depending on age.
Schools and teachers can do so much, but parents must do their part by restricting screen time and encouraging exercise.
If Nichani’s remedy is followed and the number of those with acquired ADHD is reduced, then more resources can be directed at others with special educational needs.
For those with SEN the priorities should be the same for those without them.
It should always be to ensure they are equipped with numeracy and literacy skills at primary level.
A lack of competency in these two areas causes huge problems in the secondary sector.
In my experience as a teacher in the secondary system, a significant number of children entered Year 7 with poor literacy and numeracy skills. Many of these children did not have special educational needs but had just not reached the required level for secondary transfer.
Investment in extra support should be prioritised in the primary system as it will save so much money later.
A small number of children require very high levels of intervention due to serious learning difficulties.
This is time consuming and resource intensive and these children cannot always be educated in mainstream schools, so it is crucial there are enough specialist places for them.
If it is possible to improve the mental health of children with exercise and other non-medical interventions, then we will have more resources to direct at those who most need them.
ends