Korean culture and autism spectrum disorders.

The team read 27 full articles about Korean children with autism. They pulled out every mention of culture, stigma, and diagnosis timing.

No kids were treated. The work is a map, not a trial.

Autism is hidden in Korean communities. Parents fear shame. Doctors miss signs or give other labels. Kids enter services late.

The papers beg for parent booklets and outreach that fit Korean values.

Grinker et al. (2012) walked Korean villages first. Their field notes show the same shame Prigge et al. (2013) later counted. The later paper widens the lens from one town to every Korean study.

McKenzie et al. (2015) and Klein et al. (2024) tell an almost identical story in Black American families. Culture can mask autism across very different groups.

Montiel-Nava et al. (2024) timed the delay: two years from worry to label in Latin America. Korean articles hint at the same gap, but without stopwatch data. The new survey adds the clock.

If you serve Korean families, expect silence, not denial. Offer low-visibility intake, like home visits or Korean-language Zoom. Pair flyers with church or Korean-school events, not clinic walls. Early wins build trust and cut the two-year wait.