{"id":15370,"date":"2018-03-19T19:24:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T19:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2018\/03\/19\/black-and-latino-children-are-often-overlooked-when-it-comes-to-autism\/"},"modified":"2018-03-19T19:24:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-19T19:24:00","slug":"black-and-latino-children-are-often-overlooked-when-it-comes-to-autism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/black-and-latino-children-are-often-overlooked-when-it-comes-to-autism\/","title":{"rendered":"Black And Latino Children Are Often Overlooked When It Comes To Autism"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Casey Rentz<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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Shannon Wright for NPR<\/p>\n

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Sherry Alvarez says she knew there was something different about her son since he was about 9 months old. Back then Sherry says his pediatrician told her there was nothing to worry about, ” ‘Boys are a little slower than girls, so let’s just wait until his second birthday.’ ” We aren’t using Sherry’s son’s name to protect his privacy.<\/p>\n

By her son’s second birthday, Sherry says she was getting desperate. She didn’t know why he wasn’t talking yet or showing affection like other kids. At 2 1\/2, he was referred to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

There, after four hours of tests, Sherry says the doctor handed her a 20-page report explaining his autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, among others. She says she was paralyzed by emotion.<\/p>\n

ASD is a disease that affects people of all races and ethnicities, but research <\/a>shows that African-American and Latino children with autism are diagnosed at older ages than white children, giving them less of an opportunity for proper intervention and treatment.<\/p>\n

This is especially true of minimally verbal kids like Sherry’s son and there are many possible reasons for a late diagnosis. Some families face healthcare access issues and prohibitive costs for treatment, and some families just don’t know how important it is to get diagnosed to move on to the treatment phase. The dialog between doctors and minority families during the diagnosis process is critical.<\/p>\n