Practice Innovations, Vol 9(4), Dec 2024, 305-319; doi:10.1037/pri0000253
Researchers have long documented that Latine1 children have a lower prevalence rate for diagnosis of autism than their peers. The difference in prevalence rates is not due to autism occurring less in Latine children or even differences in clinical presentation, but it is instead a result of diagnostic disparities due to barriers to accessing a high-quality evaluation that occur at the systemic, community, and individual level. Psychologists, regardless of the setting in which they work, are uniquely situated to address these barriers through culturally affirming practices. The current article will describe the prevalence of autism within Latine communities, overview diagnostic disparities experienced by Latine children with autism, identify barriers to accessing evaluations, and provide best practices for employing culturally affirming practices to eliminate inequities for Latine children with autism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)