Purpose: An official autism diagnosis is required to access timely intervention and is associated with better long-term wellbeing and mental health. Certain demographic characteristics, such as being female or a racially or ethnically minoritized youth, have been associated with significant diagnostic lag. However, it remains unclear how assigned…

Although augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies are often used by autistic youth, little is known about the use of AAC in inpatient psychiatric settings. This study evaluated how demographic and clinical factors (e.g., language level, IQ) related to AAC use in a well-characterized sample of 527 autistic youth (78.7% male, mean…

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) prevalence has risen globally, with regional variation and sociodemographic disparities affecting diagnosis and intervention. This study examines ASD trends from 1990 to 2018 in California (CA), focusing on sociodemographic factors that may inform policy/interventions. Using CA Department of Public Health birth…

Caregivers of children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience more stress than caregivers of typically developing children but there is limited research evaluating caregivers' quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to describe the association of caregiver QoL in children with ASD and/or…

Black children with autism are diagnosed at an older age. Whether or not late detection is paralleled by differing clinical presentation is not known. We evaluated symptom profiles of 245 Black and 488 sex- and age-matched White non-Hispanic participants (82.8% male; mean age: 4.2 years) referred for ASD diagnosis. Both groups showed similar…

Children with complex behavioral profiles (e.g., ASD + ADHD) may experience delays in obtaining a final diagnosis. Low-resource or underrepresented groups may be at even greater risk for delayed diagnosis. We assessed the effect of sociodemographic factors, symptom complexity and co-occurring conditions, and identifier of first symptoms on…

This study aimed to describe rates of antipsychotic medication use and the association between their use and demographics, clinical variables, and the use of behavioral/education services among children with ASD. For children with ASD ages 2-11 (n = 4749) and those 12-17 (n = 401), 5.4 and 17.7% were prescribed at least one atypical antipsychotic…

Few large epidemiological studies have examined the co-occurrence of autism and asthma. We performed a cross-sectional study to examine this association using the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health dataset (n = 77,951). We controlled for confounders and tested for autism-secondhand smoke interaction. Prevalence of asthma and autism…

This paper identifies family characteristics associated with use of autism-related services. A telephone or in-person survey was completed during 2003-2005 by 383 North Carolina families with a child 11 years old or younger with ASD. Access to care is limited for racial and ethnic minority families, with low parental education, living in…