University of Washington, USA.
University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
Autism. 2024 Oct;28(10):2675-2681. doi: 10.1177/13623613241262144. Epub 2024 Jul 26.
Schools are the main provider of behavioral health services in the United States (US). Conducting research in schools may help increase access for autistic youth, but there is limited research about who participates in school-based autism research. The researchers examined data spanning 14 years of participation in school-based autism research. All data were collected in the US. Researchers found that in this sample, more than half of the youth identified as racial/ethnic minoritized (REM) youth. However, demographics of sampled youth were significantly different than expected, based on publicly available school-based population demographics. More youth identified as White non-Hispanic than would be expected in those schools. Majority of the sampled educators also identified as White non-Hispanic. High percentages of autistic REM youth suggest school-based autism research may be an effective way of providing services to more diverse populations. However, sampled schools were also not representative of a US national sample, with sampled schools having fewer White non-Hispanic youth than would be expected from US national statistics. Complexity around representation of schools sampled and demographics of service environments suggests a need for more research.
学校是美国（US）行为健康服务的主要提供者。在学校进行研究可能有助于增加自闭症青年的获得机会，但关于谁参与学校自闭症研究的研究有限。研究人员检查了跨越 14 年参与学校自闭症研究的数据。所有数据均在美国收集。研究人员发现，在该样本中，超过一半的青年被确定为少数族裔（REM）青年。然而，根据公开的基于学校的人口统计数据，抽样青年的人口统计数据与预期有显著差异。在这些学校中，自称为白人非西班牙裔的青年比预期的要多。大多数抽样教育工作者也自称为白人非西班牙裔。有大量的自闭症 REM 青年表明，学校自闭症研究可能是为更多不同人群提供服务的有效途径。然而，抽样学校也不能代表美国全国性的样本，抽样学校中的白人非西班牙裔青年比美国全国统计数据中预期的要少。抽样学校的代表性和服务环境的人口统计数据的复杂性表明需要进行更多的研究。
