Evaluating autism diagnostic and screening tools for cultural and linguistic responsiveness

While clear guidelines and best practices exist for the assessment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), little information is available about assessing for ASD in culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) populations. CLD populations might be misidentified and under-identified with ASD due to the assessment practices that we employ. Four autism diagnostic tools and six autism screeners were selected and evaluated for their cultural and linguistic responsiveness. Although the evaluation of ASD within CLD populations is highly complex, this study identified the need for improved autism assessment tools and practices. Without the appropriate assessment of these populations, CLD children will likely continue to be misidentified (or not identified at all) and will miss crucial intervention opportunities.