Multicultural issues in autism

The professional literature provides ample evidence that individuals with autism exhibit a myriad of unusual social, communication, and behavioral patterns of interactions that present challenges to their families and service providers. However, there is a dearth of quality works on multicultural issues regarding autistic spectrum disorders. In this article, we explore issues surrounding autism and multiculturalism, with the intent not to provide answers but to raise questions for further examination. We focus our discussions on two primary issues: autism within cultural groups and multicultural family adaptation based on the framework of pluralistic societies in which some cultural groups are a minority within the dominant culture. We found differences in prevalence rates across races for autism and little information regarding how multicultural families adapt to raising a child with autism. Further, students with multicultural backgrounds and autism are challenged on at least four dimensions: communication, social skills, behavioral repertoires, and culture. Future research in these areas is clearly warranted.