Indigenous Autism in Canada: A Scoping Review.

This is a scoping review, so it maps what has been studied rather than testing whether any autism intervention works. Only 24 articles met the inclusion criteria, and 9 were grey literature rather than peer reviewed. The search was limited to English publications from 2000 to 2022, so relevant French or Indigenous language work may have been missed. Most included articles scored low quality on the Indigenous Quality Assessment Tool, and many lacked Indigenous governance or an Indigenous research paradigm. The review used a pan-Indigenous approach because the literature was limited, so findings may not apply equally to all First Nations, Métis, or Inuit communities. The Indigenous Quality Assessment Tool was originally developed in Australia, and appraisal was based only on what appeared in published manuscripts. None of the included articles had self-identified Autistic authors, and only 7 had self-identified Indigenous authorship.

The paper lists funding from the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation, Women and Children's Health Research Institute, Brain Canada, Transitioning Autism Care Consortium, Autism Edmonton, and the Autism Research Center. The supplied text gives no other conflict statement.

Do not read this review as evidence that any autism intervention works for Indigenous clients. It mapped a small, low-quality literature and found access and cultural barriers, not tested treatment effects.