Autism disproportionality in racially and ethnically minoritized and girl students in schools.
Latine students and girls are still the most likely to be overlooked when schools flag autism.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team looked at 2019-2020 U.S. school records. They asked who gets an autism label and who does not.
They counted girls, Latine, Black, and white students. They also checked if the school sat in a city, suburb, or rural spot.
What they found
Latine students were the most under-counted. Girls were missed far more often than boys.
Where the school sat mattered most. Rural and city schools showed the biggest gaps.
How this fits with other research
Older papers saw the same pattern. Byers et al. (2013) already showed Latino kids got diagnosed later and received fewer services.
Fannin et al. (2024) seems to disagree. They say the Black-white gap has narrowed. But they measure later steps like referral and class placement, not first school ID. The two papers look at different points on the same road.
Kim et al. (2025) pull thirty years of studies into one review. Their big picture matches ours: Hispanic and Native American children remain under-identified nationwide.
Why it matters
When schools miss autism, kids lose time. You can fix this. Add sex-aware questions to your intake forms. Ask about subtle girl signs like quiet masking. Track your referral rate by race and gender each quarter. If Latine or girls are under-referred, flag the team and retrain. One extra check can start services months earlier.
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Sort last month’s referrals by gender and ethnicity; schedule a brief re-screen for any missing Latine or girl students.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Special education services are crucial for enhancing outcomes and well-being among autistic students. Unfortunately, many racially and ethnically minoritized and girl autistic youth face challenges in timely and accurate identification. National-level data reveal autism prevalence rates differ across student gender, race, and ethnicity hindering access to services and appropriate education. As research focusing on autism disproportionality in schools is limited, we investigate autism identification disparities specific to racially and ethnically minoritized and girl students at the national and state levels in schools. State-level data from the 2019-2020 academic year were obtained from the United States Department of Education and analyzed to assess prevalence rate, relative risk, and systemic-level predictors of autism identification disparities. Girls were under-identified with autism in schools compared to their boy peers. The disproportionality risk of racially and ethnically minoritized students compared to White students had decreased in reference to prior reports, with the least improvement for Latine students. School locale proved significant in predicting the risk of autism identification for girl and Latine students. These findings can inform policy change, raise the collective consciousness, and encourage practitioners to seek out continued education regarding autism identification and girl students to reduce or eliminate these disparities.Lay abstractSpecial education services are important for helping autistic students succeed, but many racially and ethnically minoritized and girl students face difficulties in getting support because they are not identified appropriately in schools. This study looks at the identification of autism in racially and ethnically minoritized and girl students across schools in the United States during the 2019-2020 school year. We found that girls are less likely to be identified compared to boys, which means they might not get the help they need. The gap between racially and ethnically minoritized students and White students in autism identification has improved slightly, but Latinx students still face challenges. We also found that where students live (their locale) affects their chances of being identified, especially for girls and Latinx students. These findings show that there are disparities in school autism identification, and understanding them can help policymakers, educators, and communities make changes to ensure all autistic students get the support they need.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2025 · doi:10.1177/13623613241293046