Examining Sociodemographic Factors Related to Autism Screening Rates of Children in Early Intervention

Routine developmental screening is essential for early identification of autism. Reliable autism screening is even more valuable for individuals from minoritized groups who are often under-detected and receive later diagnoses. Despite this importance, disparities in access to screening and accurate identification persist. Given these disparities, we were interested in examining group differences in autism screening rates at 18 and 24 months of age among children referred to Georgia's Part C Babies Can't Wait (BCW) program between 2018 and 2022.

Among a sample of 52,282 infants and toddlers enrolled in BCW, as hypothesized males and children with private insurance had higher screening likelihoods compared to females and children with public insurance.

Unexpectedly, Black and Hispanic children were more likely to be screened than their counterparts. To examine this further, an examination of screening timing revealed that White and male children were more likely to be screened before their referral to BCW compared to peers.

This reveals continued inequities in screening timing but suggests that BCW providers serve an important role in identifying children who may have been missed in other settings.