Prevalence of discrimination experienced by autistic youth as compared to neurotypical youth and youth with other neurodevelopmental diagnoses
Authors: Menezes Michelle , Pappagianopoulos Jessica , Smith Jessica V , Howard Mya , Brunt Sophie , Witte Lauren , Anderson Sydney , Boyd Brian A , Mazurek Micah O 
Published: January 2025

Autistic adults have reported experiencing discrimination across settings. Nonetheless, population-based research examining the prevalence of discrimination against autistic individuals has been more limited. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the prevalence of types of discrimination (i.e., due to race or ethnicity, due to sexual orientation or gender identity, and due to health condition or disability) experienced by autistic youth ( n = 2339) compared to youth with other neurodevelopmental diagnoses (i.e. attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, learning disability, and speech or other language disorder; n = 10,325) and neurotypical youth ( n = 44,781) 6–17 years of age utilizing a large, population-based sample. Data for this study were acquired from the 2021–2022 National Survey of Children’s Health, a nationally distributed caregiver-report questionnaire. Results found that the prevalence of discrimination due to race or ethnicity and sexual orientation or gender identity was higher among autistic youth than neurotypical youth. Notably, results also found that discrimination due to health condition or disability was far more prevalent among autistic youth than neurotypical youth and youth with other neurodevelopmental diagnoses. Findings highlight the increased prevalence of discrimination experienced by autistic youth and should prompt researchers, policymakers, and vested community members to action to address this problem.

Lay abstract

Autistic individuals have described facing unfair or discriminatory treatment across settings, such as in school and at work. However, there have been few studies examining how widespread or prevalent discrimination is against autistic individuals. We aimed to fill that gap by examining how prevalent or common it is for autistic youth to experience discrimination based on race or ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity, and health condition or disability. We compared rates of discrimination against autistic youth to youth without developmental differences/diagnoses and youth with other developmental differences (i.e. youth diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], learning disability, and speech/language disorders). We analyzed data from the 2021–2022 National Survey of Children’s Health, which is a nationwide survey on which parents report about aspects of their children’s lives. We found that autistic youth experience higher rates of discrimination based on race or ethnicity and sexual orientation or gender identity compared to youth who are typically developing and do not have a diagnosis (such as a speech or language disorder). Importantly, they also face significantly more discrimination due to their disability than youth with other diagnoses, such as ADHD, and youth without a developmental diagnosis. These results show that autistic youth are at risk for experiencing discriminatory treatment. Our study should motivate researchers, policymakers, and community members to address this critical issue.