Kim Hyejung, Reinartz Jessica M, Fabrizio Jami
Department of Teaching Learning and Educational Leadership, Binghamton University, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.
Jump Start Physical Therapy, PLLC, Apalachin, NY, USA.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2024 Dec 21. doi: 10.1007/s10803-024-06671-1.
This study examines racial and ethnic disparities in autism prevalence using data from three National Longitudinal Transition Studies (NLTS) spanning two decades. This inquiry intends to explore: (1) changes in the educational labels assigned to students with a medical diagnosis of autism over time and (2) the disparities in these changes across different racial and ethnic groups.
A secondary data analysis of the NLTS was conducted using the SPSS Complex Samples module. We focused on percentage distribution over time utilizing longitudinal data from the NLTS surveys.
The results reveal that students diagnosed with autism are often classified under various other special education categories. There are significant disparities observed in these autism categorizations, with variations in autism prevalence across different racial and ethnic groups. These disparities notably intersect with other special education categories including other health impairments, intellectual disabilities, speech and language impairment, and emotional disability.
The study suggests that racial disproportionality in the special education autism category could stem from the mechanisms of special education disability designation, which may lead to an inaccurate representation of true autism prevalence.
本研究利用跨越二十年的三项全国纵向过渡研究（NLTS）的数据，考察自闭症患病率方面的种族和民族差异。本调查旨在探讨：（1）随着时间推移，被医学诊断为自闭症的学生所获得的教育标签的变化，以及（2）这些变化在不同种族和民族群体间的差异。
使用SPSS复杂样本模块对NLTS进行二次数据分析。我们利用NLTS调查的纵向数据，关注随时间的百分比分布。
结果显示，被诊断为自闭症的学生常常被归类到其他各种特殊教育类别中。在这些自闭症分类中观察到显著差异，不同种族和民族群体的自闭症患病率存在差异。这些差异尤其与其他特殊教育类别交叉，包括其他健康障碍、智力残疾、言语和语言障碍以及情感残疾。
该研究表明，特殊教育自闭症类别中的种族不均衡可能源于特殊教育残疾认定机制，这可能导致对真实自闭症患病率的不准确呈现。
