Are you one of the suspected three million-plus Brits with autism or ADHD? Maybe you’re just ‘eccentric’

By ANDY JEHRING

Published: 00:00 BST, 5 May 2025 | Updated: 01:47 BST, 5 May 2025

The majority of British people may now consider themselves neurodivergent, a leading neuroscientist has claimed.

Professor Francesca Happe believes reduced stigma around conditions such as ADHD and autism has seen a surge in medical and self-diagnoses.

While tolerance is ‘good’, she warns behaviours that once would have been considered ‘a bit of eccentricity’ are now labelled as health conditions.

She is one of the experts appearing on BBC Radio 4’s The Autism Curve which starts today and explores why autism diagnoses have rocketed.

There has been a 787 per cent rise from 1998 to 2018, according to a 2021 study, while the estimated number of children who have autism spectrum disorder has risen from one in 2,500 children 80 years ago to one in 36.

Interviewed for the programme by the presenter Michael Blastland, Professor Happe said: ‘An increasing number of people are choosing to self-identify without seeking a diagnosis. 

‘That is going to change things, because we may well already be at a point where there are more neurodivergent self-identified people than neurotypical people.

‘Whether that’s helpful or not is a discussion we need to have.’ 

Professor Francesca Happe believes reduced stigma around conditions such as ADHD and autism has seen a surge in medical and self-diagnoses

Celebrities with autism spectrum disorders include naturalist and television presenter Chris Packham, actor Sir Anthony Hopkins and the tech billionaire Elon Musk

But she welcomed the reduced stigma, adding: ‘There’s a lot more tolerance, which is good.’

Professor Happe was appointed CBE in 2021 for her services to the study of autism. She is herself dyslexic but was never diagnosed as a child – only discovering it when her own daughter was diagnosed.

Celebrities with autism spectrum disorders include naturalist and television presenter Chris Packham, actor Sir Anthony Hopkins and the tech billionaire Elon Musk.

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Are you one of the suspected three million-plus Brits with autism or ADHD? Maybe you’re just ‘eccentric’

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