Interesting exchange over at Pajamas Media, which began with the old canard that increased dx of special needs and disabilities is a function of the school system getting increased funding for special needs kids. There are a lot of ways to rebut that argument, the most significant of which are that a) we've gotten better at identifying; b) we've gotten better at categorizing; c) school districts usually absorb most of the cost of educating special needs students b/c the fed guv doesn't give enough $$, and a kid who needs, say, 40 hours per week of ABA is not a cash cow for the district. Au contraire. A lot of the comments reflect a fairly ignorant reader base: teachers get to kick the kids out of a regular classroom if the children are classified; psychologists get to justify their jobs if they classify more kids, etc. Most of it depends on a sort of economic piece work model, and that's not the way the money in the education system flows. These are often the same folks who want to implement merit pay based on test scores. Everyone wants something quantifiable.