Special education services are crucial for enhancing outcomes and well-being among autistic students. Unfortunately, many racially and ethnically minoritized and girl autistic youth face challenges in timely and accurate identification. National-level data reveal autism prevalence rates differ across student gender, race, and ethnicity hindering…

The present dissertation features two studies utilizing secondary data to explore the impact of geography on access to and utilization of early developmental services, including Part C early intervention (EI) and autism diagnosis. Both studies examined the role of geography on a micro-level using geographic information system (GIS) based…

Researchers interested in understanding the perspectives of U.S. minoritized parents of children with special needs often recruit participants based only on their ethnicity (e.g., Zuckerman et al., 2015; Jegatheesan, 2011; Chiang, 2014). However, this strategy masks the additional, unique challenges of minoritized parents who immigrated to the…

Autism research tends to exclude racially and ethnically minoritized autistic individuals, limiting the quality of the evidence base for characterizing and diagnosing language impairment in racially and ethnically minoritized autistic individuals. This systematic review examines reporting practices for participant socio-demographics in studies…

Objective: Transition from school to early adulthood incurs many changes and may be associated with deterioration in general health in youth with autism. We aimed to investigate this. Method: The National Longitudinal Transitions Study-2 is a USA nationally representative sample of youth receiving special education services, aged 13-17 at wave 1,…

Special education is a critical access point for the identification of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and subsequent provision of intervention services. However, it remains unclear which children will qualify for services in the educational setting, as ASD represents a heterogeneous group. The current study used structural equation…

The purpose of the current study was to conceptually replicate a multi-indicator construct of economic hardship in a national sample of adolescents with and without disabilities (N = 9,230). Using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 (NLTS2012), the latent construct economic hardship was confirmed from six theoretically…

Academic acceleration, which enhances challenges for academically gifted students, can be subject-based or whole-grade. Limited research has explored its application in the twice-exceptional population, where students possess notable cognitive strengths and challenges due to psychological diagnoses. Our clinical study investigates the likelihood…

The purpose of this scoping review is to critically examine empirical research that draws on first-person experiences of schooling among students with autism or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as well as to map whose voices are heard in research and where the current knowledge gaps are. The review examined key characteristics of…

Racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in autism identification negatively affect educational interventions for students identified with autism. The purpose of this qualitative ethnographic study was to gain insight into educational interventions aiding in eliminating racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities through the implementation…