Disparities in Special Education Services for Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder in the United States

Abstract

The current study aimed to examine racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in the receipt of special education services for students with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from a healthcare provider utilizing parent-report data from a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. youth. Binary logistic regression results indicated that females with ASD were significantly less likely to receive special education than their male peers; however, race and ethnicity were not significant predictors of school-based autism services. These results suggest that racial/ethnic disparities in educational support for ASD students may be improving, yet misunderstandings of the impact of gender on autism symptom presentation and school functioning persist.