Navigating racism, stigma, and autism services: A scoping review of the lived experiences of racially and ethnically minoritized families

TL;DR

This review explores how racism and stigma affect access to autism services for minoritized families and suggests ways to improve culturally attuned care.

Contribution

The study provides a synthesis of lived experiences through Disability Critical Race Theory to guide equitable pediatric clinical practices.

Findings

Families faced challenges in understanding autism and accessing culturally appropriate services.

Disability-based stigma and racism were commonly experienced by minoritized families.

Supportive environments helped families thrive when resources were accessible and culturally affirming.

Abstract

Research and clinical practice that addresses the needs of Autistic children often de-centres minoritized voices, despite the existing inequities that prevents their access to services and community participation. Grounded in Disability Critical Race Theory, this scoping review sought to collate and synthesise the research on the intersecting lived experiences of Autistic children and families from racially and ethnically minoritized backgrounds to inform more culturally attuned paediatric clinical practice. The authors systematically searched 8 databases up to June 2025. Extracted data from included articles were analysed using qualitative content analysis informed by Disability Critical Race Theory. Fifty-six studies were included in this scoping review, with a total of 1454 participants across the included studies. Findings illuminated that families had difficulty learning about and understanding autism, gaining access to services that met their cultural and language needs, and experienced disability-based stigma and racism. Families thrived when they were provided opportunities to learn about autism and available resources, could advocate for their child and others, access services from providers they trusted, and have their Autistic child celebrated within their community. To reduce inequities, there is a need for service providers to conduct culturally attuned paediatric clinical practice that centres the priorities of Autistic children and their families from racially and ethnically minoritized backgrounds. This paediatric practice needs to be neurodiversity-positive, culturally affirming, and financially, geographically, physically, socially, and culturally accessible.

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