Abstract
Previous studies have implicated migration and ethnicity as possible risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in developed countries. Using Texas education data, we calculated district-reported ASD prevalence stratified by geographic region, with reported home language as a proxy for immigration. Prevalence ratios were also stratified by race. Prevalence estimates were significantly lower for White children from homes speaking Spanish and other non-English languages compared to those from English-speaking homes. This is the first study, to our knowledge, that investigates ASD prevalence of children from non-English-speaking households in a large sample. Barriers in identification of children of immigrants with ASD indicate that the increased district-reported prevalence seen in our study may only be a small indicator of a potentially larger prevalence.
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We acknowledge provision of data and assistance of the TEA’s Division of Research.
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AD1 conceived the study, acquired the data for the study, and performed statistical analyses. AD2 participated in its design and a portion of the analysis. AD1 and AD2 collaborated on the interpretation of the findings and drafted the manuscript.
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The present study was determined to be exempt from human subjects review by the institutional review board at the University Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects.
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The study consisted solely of secondary analysis of existing data; therefore, informed consent was not required.
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This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.
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Dickerson, A.S., Dickerson, A.S. Brief Report: Texas School District Autism Prevalence in Children from Non-English-Speaking Homes. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 1411–1417 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3676-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3676-9