Racial disparities found in parent-reported ASD concerns

Researchers surveyed 174 parents of children with autism spectrum disorders ages 18 months to 40 months and found that black parents reported significantly fewer ASD-related concerns, as well as had a 2.61 times and 4.12 times reduced likelihood of worrying over social concerns and restrictive or repetitive behavior, respectively, compared with white parents. The findings in the journal Autism "underscore the importance of using ASD-specific screeners that probe directly for autism spectrum disorder symptoms and rely much less heavily on parents' knowledge of signs of this disorder in their child," said researcher Meghan Rose Donohue.   Healio (free registration)