One in nine children now has a disability after a post-pandemic surge driven by mental health conditions such as ADHD.
Some 1.6 million children are reported as disabled, a figure that has doubled in little more than a decade and jumped by more than a third since Covid.
Experts believe that the increase reflects both the rise of mental health problems in the young and a growing willingness to diagnose behavioural issues as disorders.
The effect of lockdown and school closures on the mental health of young people has also meant more need help with everyday life, officials believe, while the cost of living crisis is also thought to have contributed.
