Rita Obeid, full-time lecturer in the Department of Psychological Sciences, recently co-wrote a paper exploring the relationship between racial bias and autism identification.

The paper, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities, builds on research showing minority populations are frequently misdiagnosed or diagnosed later in life for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Obeid and her co-authors examined the role implicit and explicit biases play in autism identification. They found that participants who identified as white were more likely to associate ASD with white children and conduct disorder (CD) with the Black child in the task. Conversely, Black participants were more likely to associate ASD with Black children and CD with the white children.

https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s10803-020-04507-2?sharing_token=-hbNaheyIuQhPO229fvlY_e4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY4Gn2TDPnY6CXIyzw8WiE7lvk6syGd7skmf8lDt4ma98oax2f2w0IiFgMslg-2cHSfyYRTAPz46jwpxjY5PeAzepa57oOY1euHAcw2IWbY3tAYAU4ogqGkpgsMgRfccucI%3D