Black And Latino Children Are Often Overlooked When It Comes To Autism—NPR
Kids of color are more likely to be seen as "behavioral problems", rather than as "kids with neurological differences". I'll go out on a limb and suggest this is part of the implicit bias of white privilege in our society. Support the families around you. Let's lift each other up and make sure all kids get the support they need. NPR's health news feed, Shots says more about the numbers. Excerpt:
"Families and doctors, alike, can mistake autism spectrum disorder for simple bad behavior, especially in boys, as research has shown over the past couple of decades. A 2001 study at McGill University in Montreal found that doctors were more hesitant to diagnose ASD in minority families.
"In 2007, a study by a team at the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania, found that African-American children were 5.1 times more likely to be misdiagnosed with conduct disorders before being diagnosed with ASD."
Illustration: Shannon Wright for NPR
