Indigenous Australians with autism: A scoping review.
Benjamin Bailey, Joanne Arciuli
PMID 31928063WHAT IT FOUND
Research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander autistic people is sparse, mostly carer and provider barriers.
Low diagnosis rates likely reflect access gaps and distrust of labels, not lower need. Carers recommended involving community and using Aboriginal workers.
Key findings
01The review included 17 publications, and all but one were published between 2010 and 2018.
02Indigenous mothers were significantly less likely to have a child diagnosed with autism, but the review interpreted this as reduced access rather than lower prevalence.
03Carers reported gaps in autism awareness, distrust of medical labels, and barriers to diagnosis and support.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This is a scoping review, not a test of treatment effects, and the authors did not formally appraise methodological rigour. Only 17 publications were included, and only four examined diagnosis or prevalence. Most included studies reported carer and service provider views, not autistic people's own experiences. No stakeholder consultation was done, and no Aboriginal researchers other than the first author were consulted during the review. Two relevant titles could not be accessed, so the map may be incomplete.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was partly supported by a mid-career SOAR research fellowship awarded to Joanne Arciuli by The University of Sydney, which also paid the open access fee.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read lower diagnosis rates as lower autism prevalence. The review interpreted fewer diagnoses as reduced access to diagnostic services and greater acceptance of individual differences, not a true difference in prevalence.