Language Barriers Impact Access to Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 48; no. 2; pp. 333 - 340
• Main Authors: St. Amant, Helaine G., Schrager, Sheree M., Peña-Ricardo, Carolina, Williams, Marian E., Vanderbilt, Douglas L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-02-2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Access to Health Care; Acculturation; Analysis; Autism; Autistic children; Barriers; Behavior; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Chart reviews; Child and School Psychology; Children; Comparative Analysis; Disability; Ethnic differences; Health disparities; Individualized education programs; Language; Language barriers; Language of Instruction; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Parents; Parents & parenting; Patient outcomes; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Psychology; Public Health; Racial inequality; Social skills; United States; Health care disparities; Access to services; Individualized education plan; Autism spectrum disorder; Language barriers
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-017-3330-y

Racial and ethnic disparities in accessing health care have been described in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a retrospective chart review of 152 children with ASD, children of parents whose primary language was English were significantly more likely to have both social skills and communication goals within their individualized education plan (IEP) compared to children of parents whose primary language was not English. Additionally, children of primary English speakers received significantly more hours of direct services from their state disability program. After controlling for demographic covariates, findings suggest that language barriers may negatively affect parents’ abilities to access health care services for their child with ASD. Acculturation factors must therefore be considered when analyzing disparities in autism.