I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. I don’t recall any of the kids in any of my classes having autism..”
I’m a bit older than you but we didn’t have autism, ADD or ADHD back then. My kids were both born in the 60’s - none of their friends suffered from autism, ADD or ADHD then either. I do recall the school principal saying that the little boys in my son’s first grade class were “the orneriest bunch of boys he’d ever had in that school” but they were all boy and just not ready to sit down and be quiet all day. They changed the teacher from a young single gal to an older grandmother type later in the year and that helped some.
IMO, many little boys just are not ready for all that structure at age six. I also think that all those meds benefit the teachers, not the children.
The first time I recall ever hearing any of these terms mentioned was in the late 1990’s or early 2000’s. Either these kids were suddenly being labeled or something else drastically changed, including the kind of teachers being hired, a redefinition of parent’s responsibilities, change in what was in their food, ....???
Structure starts in the home first and foremost, if a child is never taught to sit still they have a hard time having to do it in school. This goes for girls as well as boys.
Like every one else only case of a lingering illness was a Polio case in HS.
Did not start seeing any ADD and such until my own kids hit school age. getting a label on a kid gets the school more money.