Many SPD children have additional problems such as anxiety or depression which need specialist therapy in their own right.Annie had problems at school from the beginning. Too often, children with SPD can be labelled naughty, or disruptive, or emotionally disturbed Their social comprehension problems can be well hidden Some children aren't disruptive. They sit quietly and copy other children's activities, and draw attention to themselves only when they make social gaffes."Over time, this struggle to keep up can impact on a child's self-esteem. and thought they'd have no eyes left."Autistic spectrum disorders often co-exist with other difficulties such as dyspraxia, dyslexia and attention-deficit problems," says language therapist Cath Clayton, from Birmingham's Parkview clinic, a regional centre for child mental health, where specialist therapy is available for SPD as well as other autistic spectrum disorders "Picking up the difficulty early is important. Consequently, these children can become very anxious, unless they're told explicitly what to do.One boy suffering from the disorder was terrified after hearing "you've got the devil in you" - he took it literally A girl heard about someone "crying their eyes out"...

The implicit meaning is missed, even if the literal meaning is understood.Our day-to-day language is peppered with idioms, double meanings, metaphors and other potential confusion - the task of keeping up with conversation becomes nightmarish. Some get labelled troublemakers or disruptive because of the difficulties they have with communicating.SPD children present a puzzle for professionals used to measuring performance with tests. Many SPD children do well on structured language tests, but in real life fail to understand questions such as "What are you up to?" or "Can you pass the salt?". But one thing is clear - children with semantic pragmatic disorder can become seriously isolated from their peers.

It may be a genetic problem, or linked to allergies, or metabolic difficulties, though the exact cause is not known. and eventually that there was something very odd about her communication.Annie has semantic pragmatic disorder (SPD), which may affect one in every 100 children, more often boys than girls. Her mother says something, and Annie replies "thank you for bringing that up" - not a phrase most 10-year-olds use spontaneously. A casual observer would think "cute" at first, then "precocious and cheeky"... But a few minutes into her therapy session, Annie shows she is quite different from other children. Her speech is clear but sometimes she laughs loudly and inappropriately.

She comes out with phrases which just don't fit the conversation. And the neatly dressed squads of corporate whatevers, including my entire family, will elbow me aside into the dust.. Annie is 10 She is small, with a sweet, pretty face. The only unusual thing I notice about her is her hairstyle - she has a long, sweeping fringe and wears her hair tied in bunches. Meanwhile, I shall continue to be a lone voice in the wilderness crying out against the abomination of conformity.

People are so desperate to belong to something that they're latching on to uniforms. Even politicians are at it - haven't you noticed how ostentatiously Conservative women MPs wear shades of blue before the TV cameras and Labour women wear shades of red? Before long, we'll see the Cabinet in matching T-shirts and people like myself will be forced to wear university blazers or corporate headgear.It's an identity question, uniform. People wear uniform, schools promote it, offices encourage it, shops introduce it to help create a greater sense of identity with the institution. Nobody wears school uniform because they think it looks smart, no parent actually believes that it saves money or helps their child fit in any better. They had gone en masse to be pierced and all had the same ring inserted. Roll on the Cultural Revolution!My interpretation of the wave of conformism that is sweeping the country is that it's linked to all the talk about corporate identities.