Diagnosis of AS/ASD/HFA for African Americans

Post Reply New Topic

Did anyone find this to be a bit problematic? Many clinicians think that African-Americans/Blacks with AS/ASD/HFA do not exist. How can this problem be mitigated/eliminated? Suggestions?

Are there really many clinicians who actively believe this? I wouldn't be surprised to discover that some clinicians suffer from unconscious biases which, for whatever reasons, prevent them from recognizing ASD traits in Black populations. However, I haven't heard any credible clinician explicitly state that "Black people cannot have ASD" in so many words -- although I have heard strangers on the internet make such claims.

For what it's worth, I am a mixed race individual (75% Black, 25% White) who was diagnosed with AS as a child.

Where did you get this information from?

My family is multiracial. It has not been our experience that African ancestry has been viewed by clinicians as a barrier to diagnosis.
The developmental pediatrician who diagnosed my son did ask some questions to check that the social difficulties he was experiencing in school were not the product of community racism, but that was the only point at which the issue of skin pigmentation came into the discussion. There was no suggestion at all that he might be protected from autism by higher melanin levels.

I may have worded my response wrong. The clinicians that I have come into contact with have not seen it before in African-Americans. It may just be the area that I am living in. This is coming from personal experience. The area that you come from shouldn't matter but it does.

When I say they think it does not exist, I am referring to the unconscious bias that exist among clinicians. But I think that people on the higher end of the spectrum are more difficult to diagnose because they are so close to being normal. Everyone knows that it is hard to get a diagnosis at later ages because of the difficulty distinguishing between learned and innate (natural) behavior.

It's really unfortunate if this is the case. Aspies/HFA/ASD come in all genders, races, sexual orientations etc.. Anyone who doesn't believe that is highly mislead

If you do a lit search there is virtually no information on AA (African-Americans) Aspies/HFA/ASD (when I say on, i mean specifically geared towards that population). Most are White in research studies. There are barriers excluding participation of AA in research studies regarding Autism because of the family structure (i.e., not being the traditional nuclear family) or an absent family member (i.e., sister, brother). It is featured in a recent 2010 or 2011 article on PubMed talking about AA participation in genetic studies with a focus on ASDs.

In Africa there is very little knowledge of ASDs existing. They were thought to only exist in more developed nations such as the US.

The other problem is that the Black community is more accepting of behavioral differences which may mask AA with ASDs. I should also mention that there is little knowledge of ASDs in the Black community and what the differences are between HFA/AS and Autism.

It is terrible all around.

On an unrelated note, does anyone seem to have premonitions that come true? I'm hoping no one will think I am a nut for saying this. Please tell me to move to another forum if needed as it is unrelated to the previous topic. I just thought about it and decided to ask.

part of the reason is probably due to the cultural expectations of african americans. children with ASD, AS, or HFA are seen as acting out and expected to just get over it. Studies have shown the African American families partake in authoritative parenting styles, which is where they expect their children to behave and mind their parents for no other explanation other than 'Because I said so".

There are plenty of white families who have an authoritative parenting style, I can tell you that for sure. I'm a white guy, and my dad (sadly) is one if the most authoritarian, dogmatic people I have ever met.

And I'm sure there are plenty of black families who have a more coachful style of parenting.

I am sorry if this offends anyone. However, it is disheartening that there is no representation of AA Aspies/HFA/ASD in media or in more mainstream sources. I haven't seen a film yet that has showcased what specifically happens in the lives of AA Aspies. Perhaps there is not a big difference but I'm inclined to think that there is. The general public does not know that much about Autism and its forms anyways. We have a very long way to go to cure the ignorance of the masses. This at least applies to where I live.

So, how did I become a political activist? Well, my dad worked the financial side of NASA contractors and we moved around. When I went to 5th grade, it was my fourth different elementary school. And they were meaner to the kids than the other elementary schools, and I saw first hand that adults can be wrong and authorities can be wrong.

I really hope 'Spectrum Rights' develops in the direction of a civil rights movement. And Transgend Rights might be the closest example. Someone who is transgend does not need a damn psychologist to tell them that, although the psychologist might (potentially) be helpful in other ways.

And what I want the general public to understand about the Asperger's-Autism Spectrum is that first and foremost it's about sensory issues and processing issues. And then, that I have patchy social skills, surprisingly good in some areas, and not so good in others.

I was going to make a comment to this effect, as this has been my experience. I have seen an article online on this topic, and someone made a comment similar to above, re: they are more accepting of divergent behaviors; I have not found this to be true at all.

With regards to the comment Aardvark made about the presence of authoritative parenting styles in families of other subcultures, I think the difference is that an authoritative parenting style may generally be seen as abusive, or at least unnecessary, in other contexts, whereas it is commonly accepted as the "correct" way to parent in communities of the American descendants of African slaves.

Another likely difference in the frequency and intensity with which their children may present autistic behaviors is the tendency of the parenting style to discourage unwanted behavior with physical punishment. I think anyone who grows up in such a community can tell you about how "white people" (generally middle class or above, as class is also a factor in the use of physical punishment by parents) were seen as "soft," poor parents for not physically disciplining their children. There are jokes about the fact that physical punishment is considered child abuse, ridicule of non-physical punishments such as time outs and grounding, even attribution of the fact that most American serial killers are white to a permissive parenting style. This illustrates, again, a fundamental cultural component, not something that is family-specific. The child immersed in such a culture is more likely to accept the discouragement of autistic behavior, and work harder to hide them, not only through fear of hitting, but social ostracism via lack of peers having perspectives that differ from community standards. On the other hand, the child who has greater access (through friends/community/media, if not family) to cultural mores in which such treatment is seen as abuse, or in which "talking back"/thinking for oneself/moderating the interaction by explaining one's behaviors to the parents/guardians is accepted to a greater extent is empowered to think about the behaviors in a more flexible, positive light, and is less motivated to hide them.

In fact, I've been thinking about making a post about this topic, because, reading about the behaviors autistic people exhibit as children and comparing this to myself in anticipation of seeking a diagnosis, I was struck by the fact that my parents would have beaten my ass for acting this way, and it would not have been considered child abuse at all.

Good luck in getting diagnosed. Hopefully the two of us will be lucky.

Another thing I thought of today while watching some young mothers: If there really is a correlation between the incidence of autism and the age of the father, it makes sense that there are fewer afflicted individuals in ADOAS (that's my acronym: American Descendents of African Slaves) communities. Large sectors of the community have children while young.