The Role of Demographics in the Age of Autism Diagnosis in Jerusalem.

Koller et al. (2021) looked at health records of young children with autism in Jerusalem. They wanted to know if family background changed the age when kids got the diagnosis.

The team compared Arab and Jewish children. They split the group at age six to see who was referred for assessment after that point.

Before age six, race and income made little difference. Most kids were diagnosed around the same time.

After six, referrals for Arab children stopped almost completely. Arab kids under six were also more likely to be minimally verbal.

van 't Hof et al. (2021) show the world average age of diagnosis is still about five years. Judah’s city fits that norm, but flags a new gap after that age.

Davidovitch et al. (2023) studied Jerusalem kids diagnosed after six. Many had earlier ADHD or language-delay labels. Judah warns these late finds are mostly Jewish kids; Arab families rarely get that far.

Rattaz et al. (2022) found no income gradient in France. Judah saw the same before six, but only in a divided city with unequal post-six referrals.

Kuhl et al. (2015) describe West Bank families who hit total service walls. Judah quantifies a similar drop inside Jerusalem once children reach school age.

If you screen or make referrals, know that Arab families may vanish from clinics after the sixth birthday. Run extra outreach, play-based screening, and parent nights in Arabic before that cutoff. A simple checklist at kindergarten intake could catch the kids who would otherwise be lost.