Social class distribution of fathers of children enrolled in the Iowa Autism Program.

Reiss et al. (1982) looked at the jobs and income of dads whose kids were in Iowa’s free autism program.

They compared these dads to other Iowa dads to see if autism clustered in richer or poorer homes.

All kids got the same public services, so cost was not a gatekeeper.

The social-class spread of autism dads matched the spread of other dads.

When services are free, wealth does not predict who gets an autism label.

Bhasin et al. (2007) seemed to disagree: richer U.S. families were more likely to have autism without mental retardation.

But they studied areas where families pay for evaluations; money still buys access. The two papers clash only when access is unequal.

Blacher et al. (2019) show the gap is still real: Latino kids with the same symptoms as Anglo kids receive fewer services.

Carr et al. (2016) prove the fix is practical: give low-income families rides, flex times, and they stay in parent training.

Your intake forms probably over-represent richer or English-speaking families. Remove fees, offer interpreters, and add evening slots. Equity in access erases the fake “class effect” on prevalence and gives every child a fair shot at early intervention.