Abstract
BackgroundLiterature on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggests lower ASD prevalence and higher age of diagnosis among children of color, from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and from families with lower educational levels. These disparities have been attributed to factors such as limited access to diagnostic and treatment services, less opportunity for upward mobility to locales with ample resources, and linguistic barriers. However, few studies describe prevalence and geographic differences of ASD diagnoses by English Language Learner (ELL) status.ObjectivesThe primary objectives of this study are to (1) spatially explore the prevalence of ASD among New York State school districts and (2) examine differences of ASD prevalence rates between ELLs and native English-speaking peers.MethodsUsing the 2016–2017 district-level data on public and non-public school age students (3–21 years old) receiving special education services in New York, we analyzed sociodemographic trends among school districts with varying percentages (low, medium, and high ranges) of students with ASD and ELLs. To do this, we conducted exploratory spatial analyses using GIS software, analysis of school district level demographic data, and multivariate linear regression.ResultsIn contrast to prior research on ASD prevalence among minority groups, we found disproportionately higher rates of ASD among school districts with higher proportions of Black and Hispanic students. Geographic analysis revealed statistically significant clustering of school districts with high ASD rates in New York City and Albany. Higher proportions of ELLs tended to be concentrated in densely populated, urban, and geographically smaller school districts and had higher proportions of Black, Hispanic, and Asian students.ConclusionsSchools with higher rates of ASD and ELL students tend to be concentrated in urban regions throughout New York and have higher representation of Black and Hispanic/Latino students, as well as higher rates of learning disabilities in general. Further research is warranted to explore possible reasons for this phenomenon.
Highlights
Literature on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggests lower ASD prevalence and higher age of diagnosis among children of color, from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and from families with lower educational levels
Schools with higher rates of ASD and English Language Learner (ELL) students tend to be concentrated in urban regions throughout New York and have higher representation of Black and Hispanic/Latino students, as well as higher rates of learning disabilities in general
Sociodemographic characteristics of all school districts (Table 1) Among the 895 school districts analyzed, there was an overall mean ASD rate of 1.14 per 100 students and an overall mean ELL percentage of 2.59. This falls within the same range as nationally reported ASD prevalence rates in the United States, which are typically between 1 and 3% [10,11,12]
Summary
Literature on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggests lower ASD prevalence and higher age of diagnosis among children of color, from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and from families with lower educational levels These disparities have been attributed to factors such as limited access to diagnostic and treatment services, less opportunity for upward mobility to locales with ample resources, and linguistic barriers. The prevalence of ASD is reported to be lower and age of ASD diagnosis higher among children of color and families with lower educational levels and socioeconomic background This is attributed to multiple factors, including limited access to diagnostic and treatment services and fewer opportunities for upward neighborhood mobility to locations with more resources [4, 10, 13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33]. Latinos with Spanish as their primary language received less family-centered care for ASD than Caucasian families [27, 36]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
