As much as the rise in &quot;sensory issues&quot; may be real, it could also be occupational therapists trying to generate more business for themselves.<p>It&#x27;s happened in South Africa&#x27;s[1] for-profit private healthcare sector, where wealthy areas with high concentrations of occupational therapists just happen to have enormous rates of diagnosed sensory issues in normal children, to the extent that medical schemes (insurers) have had to ration these treatments (with the tacit approval of parents, who know it&#x27;s often a scam, but are forced by schools to undertake OT treatments).<p>Especially as formerly good South African schools have been forced to cut back, and the overall quality of education has deteriorated, OTs have become the &quot;real&quot; teachers in affluent areas, teaching handwriting and other motor skills, often to every child in some schools. And, anecdotally, bright young women who want to work with children aspire to become OTs, rather than teachers nowadays, exacerbating the problem.<p>Wikipedia has the citations on this issue. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Occupational_therapy#Children_and_youth" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Occupational_therapy#Children_...</a><p>If I was an parent of a young child in the U.S., my spidey sense would be very tingley when I read articles like this.<p>[1] yes South Africa is a third-world country, but there are aspects that are very &quot;First World&quot;