More white people autistic

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Really, I think this may be the case, or maybe I meant artistic.

I don't know that this is the case.

However, that appears to be King Crimson's album cover to Court of the Crimson King in your avatar.

I think it is a better known condition in white circles because of economics and education rather than because of a genetic predisposition. I'd also go one further to say it is more diagnosed in middle to upper class white communities than poor white communities because of this education gap. Now this education gap does not exist because of a lack of ability but rather due to the toxicity of certain poor cultures that do not venerate education. For example, a friend of mine went to an inner city school and got good grades. He was promptly beaten up after school for getting those grades because it supposedly made the others look bad. He quickly learned NOT to do well in school from that experience.

The fact that there are far less non-"White" people in the Western world than there are "White" people. Statistically, there's bound to be a significant difference.

Hence the name, schizoid, and 26, my birthday. Yeah I would suppose it is detected more, and maybe not as frowned upon. I can let my freak flag fly, I guess. That's cheesy to say, but I guess so.

On another note, I asked my coworkers what their favorite winnie the pooh character was, and Eeyore was the favorite, followed by Tigger.

I dondont lilike eeyeeyeeyore, Pooh, oohhhh dddddear.

I just watched a documentary about how a lot of Somalian immigrants in Canada are autistic possibly because of their diet combined with genes being a huge factor. I'm not sure if I believe this, I don't know.

More white people than black people can afford to get a psychiatric evaluation as well as a screening for ASDs. This is why black people in Great Britain (where everyone is entitled to free healthcare, the way it should be) are more likely to have Asperger's syndrome than black Americans.

It depends on the culture sometimes. In Asian culture, there can be some denial of mental illnesses, so parents may not take action, or may deny problems. I'm sure it happens in other cultures as well. I just think Western culture has gotten better very recently thanks to education and media attention.

As for visible minorities who live in Western countries, school officials may carry certain prejudices. I saw a video about how black kids with ASD are more likely to be labeled as ODD by school officials because of their background. But those are just some examples.

It's kinda strange reading this thread, as a black person with ASD.

the only other people on the spectrum I have met was a little white boy and a little black boy. I am female and Hispanic, so I don't know.

I am a black person who has been diagnosed (though not fully accepting).

I'm guessing culture may affect both how it is expressed and how it is perceived. Based on my experiences growing up, we kids were not expected to talk much to our parents. We were spoken to, but there was no expectation of reciprocation. There was plenty of yelling and hollering and whuppings if we fell out of step.

I was not disciplined very much as a kid, but that's because I was always afraid of getting in trouble. I was on high alert to make sure I was "good". If I had exhibited any of the tendencies I do now as a kid, I wouldn't have been taken to the doctor. I would have gotten a whuppin'. (I think if that I had been really disruptive, my parents would have eventually taken me to a professional. But I was too scared of the belt to let myself get to that point!)

I don't like big generalizations, but I do think black parents tend to be more strict and less tolerant of "Aspieness" than whites. They also tends towards spirituality and don't put a lot of stock in the medical establishment. My mother was repeatedly informed by my teachers that my lack of facial expression and motor delays were concerning. But my mother, who has always distrusted the opinion's of "authority", thought those were things that I could work out on my own. She was largely right, so she wins on that point. My issues are still with me, but they haven't held me back in life.

I think when you are confronting something huge (like racism), other stuff looks trivial. I think my parents knew they had a goofy kid on their hands, but that fact took backseat to challenge of raising a strong black female. To be nice, to be a good Christian, and to be self-reliant were the things my parents put a high premium on. Happiness? I hate to say it, but I think my parents viewed this as a triviality. I wasn't totally unhappy growing up, but I think instilling happiness in your kids requires actually getting to know them. This is where my parents failed.

I told my therapist that one reason I have problems with my diagnosis is that I was raised to identify as a "strong black woman". You know the stereotype. Someone who doesn't let anything get in her way, who is nonsense and tough, and full of common sense. The complete opposite of the Aspie caricature. I have never thought of myself as a "strong black woman", but it was still an appealing image to hold onto as a possibility, at least. If I accept the Aspie description for myself, I don't know what type of black person I am. I am not a Steve Urkel. So there is no one else. Except for maybe Harriet Tubman. She was neurologically atypical because of a head injury and suffered from narcolepsy. But she was badass and very much strong.

I doubt it.

My kids used to go to an inner city school where there were a lot of minority students, many from immigrant families. I saw a number of kids who seemed to stand pretty firmly somewhere on the spectrum. I asked the principal about them and she said that numerous attempts were made to get the families to allow them to be evaluated, but there was a strong cultural bias against it, and most of the families refused. I offered to be a point of contact for any of the families, to offer my free assistance to help them navigate the system. But not one ever asked to speak to me, though I believe they knew the offer was extended because I could tell by the way they looked at me and my kids. Sometimes it was with sadness and sometimes it was with distaste. Perhaps sadness from those who wished they could do something to help their kids and distaste from those who saw me and my kids as damaged?

IOW, I think it is cultural.

One of my kids' therapists also told me that kids from educated families get better therapy and services through the school, too, even though sometimes the children were not as severely impaired as some of the ones from under-educated households. I asked her why she thought that was. She said she wasn't sure, but she suspected it was because the school figured out which parents would cause public relations and legal problems and which ones wouldn't, and they focused their funding in "preventative" ways, instead of based on the actual needs of the kids. I know for a fact that my daughter was offered more services than some kids with a greater degree of impairment in the Early Intervention program. But I am a graduate-educated professional and I present that way when speaking to others, so I guess they were afraid not to give me the best.

It is kind of sad, and very unfair, even though it benefited me and my daughter.

Overall U.S. prevalence percentages provided in the research that has been sponsored by the government through the CDC agency across Race/ethnicity demographics are linked and quoted below.

Access and affordability for diagnosis plays a role, as well as awareness and cultural differences.

The statistics for Black, non-Hispanics are close to that of White, non-Hispanics. However, there are some states in the linked research quoted below where Black, non-Hispanics have a higher prevalence rate than White, non-Hispanics. And while overall, Hispanics have the lowest prevalence rates measured in the US, there is close to double the prevalence measured among Hispanics, in Florida, where Dade county was the chosen data collection county.

If the opportunity for diagnosis was equally accessed across ethnic groups it is possible that White, non-Hispanics, could be 3rd among the most diagnosed Race/ethnicity groups if the increasing prevalence rates among Black non Hispanics, and Hispanics are an indication of eventual prevalence statistics among the different Race/ethnicity groups.

This is the same nation-wide government sponsored report/study where the 1 in 88 statistic comes from.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/documents/ADDM-2012-Community-Report.pdf

I lived in a predominately black community. The white people with ASDs were higher functioning and the black people were lower functioning.

How strange that autotelica had the exact same thoughts and experiences I did. I was "afraid of the belt" too so as a result I never did anything bad. I still got the belt sometimes for things I didn't do, though. But blame my parents being obsessive drunks for that. I eventually got to the point where I could get along with my dad. 24 years later and I still don't get along with my mom. She blames everything on me all the time.