An Intersection of Race and Disability:
A Critical Analysis of the Racial Inequities in Autism and Neurodivergent Disability Diagnoses for Black Children
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/cjae.v5i1.5986Keywords:
autism, neurodiversity, neurodevelopmental disability, special education, racial disparity, race, Blackness, disabilityAbstract
Black children face racial inequities when it comes to autism and neurodevelopmental disability diagnoses. As we know, autism and related neurodevelopmental disabilities have historically been pathologized, stigmatized, and discriminated against. As a result, Autistic self-advocates created the neurodiversity movement, as a direct oppositional force to this historical, and present-day, harm. However, even within the context of this civil rights movement, Black, and other minoritized people have consistently been left at the margins. This marginalization is evident throughout the diagnosis process, where Black children and youth who meet the diagnostic criteria for autism and related neurodevelopmental disabilities face, on average, diagnostic inequities. This includes incorrect diagnoses, later diagnoses, and receiving no diagnoses at all. It is critical to analyze and examine the harmful mechanisms which facilitate the marginalization and inequitable treatment of Black Autistic, neurodevelopmentally disabled youth from a young age.
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