CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 47Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchIndigenous Health, Education, and RightsFamily and Disability Support Research

Indigenous Australians with autism: A scoping review

Open access
Bailey, Benjamin, Arciuli, Joanne·2020·Autism
DOI 10.1177/1362361319894829PMC PMC7309356
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with autism spectrum disorder, used interchangeably with the term autism, are among the most marginalised people in Australian society. This review maps out existing and emerging themes in the research involving Indigenous Australians with autism based on a search of the peer-reviewed and grey literature. Our search identified 1457 potentially relevant publications. Of these, 19 publications met our inclusion criteria and focused on autism spectrum disorder diagnosis and prevalence, as well as carer and service provider perspectives on autism, and autism support services for Indigenous Australians. We were able to access 17 publications: 12 journal articles, 3 conference presentations, 1 resource booklet and 1 dissertation. Findings suggest similar prevalence rates for autism among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, although some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with autism may not receive a diagnosis or may be misdiagnosed. Research on the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers and Indigenous and non-Indigenous service providers is discussed in relation to Indigenous perspectives on autism, as well as barriers and strategies to improve access to diagnosis and support services. Although not the focus of our review, we briefly mention studies of Indigenous people with autism in countries other than Australia. Lay Abstract: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with developmental disabilities such as autism are among the most marginalised people in Australian society. We reviewed research involving Indigenous Australians with autism based on a search of the peer-reviewed and grey literature. Our search identified 1457 potentially relevant publications. Of these, 19 publications were in line with our main areas of inquiry: autism spectrum disorder diagnosis and prevalence, carer and service provider perspectives on autism, and autism support services. These included 12 journal publications, 3 conference presentations, 1 resource booklet and 1 thesis dissertation. Findings suggest similar prevalence rates for autism among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, although some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with autism may not receive a diagnosis or may be misdiagnosed. We also discuss research on the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers and Indigenous and non-Indigenous service providers, as well as barriers and strategies for improving access to diagnosis and support services.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/1362361319894829

Cites

42 of 42 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • A clear finding in the extant literature, similar to research in other settler-colonial nations, was the ongoing subjugation of Indigenous knowledges, perspectives and lived experiences to inform autism services by and with Indigenous families and children.

    “However, a clear finding in the extant literature, and similar to research in other settler-colonial nations (Bailey & Arciuli, 2020; Bennett & Hodgson, 2017; Bent et al., 2015; Roy & Balaratnasingam, 2010; Wilson & Watson, 2011), was the ongoing subjugation of Indigenous knowledges, perspectives and lived experiences to inform autism services by and with Indigenous families and”

    From Autism and Autism Services with Indigenous Families and Children in the Settler-Colonial Context of Canada: A Critical Scoping Review (2022) · cites this paper as Bailey & Arciuli, 2020

    In the Discussion section on diagnostic and support services (page unavailable), the review reports that some Indigenous carers felt service providers dismissed their views and told families how to support their children. It also calls for greater community involvement in services. These findings support concerns about marginalised perspectives, but the review does not establish ongoing subjugation across autism services or the claimed similarity across other settler-colonial nations. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Reviews in Australia and New Zealand identified similar barriers to Canada, including less access to diagnostic services, misdiagnoses, and lack of data on autism such as prevalence.

    “They identified similar barriers to what is found in Canada, including less access to diagnostic services, misdiagnoses, and lack of data on autism such as prevalence, with recommendations to support improved quality of life for Indigenous Autistics.”

    From Indigenous Autism in Canada: A Scoping Review (2024) · cites this paper as Bailey & Arciuli, 2020

    The Discussion section on diagnosis and prevalence reports reduced access to diagnostic services, missed or misdiagnosis, and the need for changes before autism prevalence in Indigenous Australian communities can be measured accurately. The section on diagnostic and support services also recommends improving service accessibility. But this is a review of Indigenous Australians; its Results section only briefly mentions a Māori study, so it does not establish that reviews in both Australia and New Zealand identified the stated barriers or made the stated quality-of-life recommendation. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. Armstrong E. S. Jokel A. (2012). Language outcomes for preverbal toddlers with autism. Studies in Literature and Language, 4(3), 1– 7. 10.3968/j.sll.1923156320120403.3528 · DOI
  2. Bailey B. Arciuli J. (2019, 6). Autism spectrum disorders in Indigenous Australia: A comprehensive scoping review [Paper presentation]. Interactive poster at Lowitja Institute International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference, Darwin, NT, Australia.
  3. *Casuscelli L. Reimer J. (2017, 7–9 9). Using ‘strong and deadly’ partnerships to raise awareness and increase understanding of autism in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia [Paper presentation]. Fifth Asia Pacific Autism Conference, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
  4. *Green A. (2018). Families with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child with disability: System, service and provider perspectives [Doctoral dissertation]. https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/handle/10453/125644
  5. *Higgins J. Beecher S. (2010, 27–29 7). SNAICC/PRC early days project [Paper presentation]. 2010 Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Conference, Alice Springs, NT, Australia.
  6. *Lilley R. Pellicano L. Sedgwick M. Carlson B. Kennedy T. (2018, 6–7 12). Different kids, different stories: Indigenous Australian family experiences of autism [Paper presentation]. Fourth Biennial Conference of the Australasian Society for Autism Research, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Bailey, B., & Arciuli, J.
Affiliations
The University of Sydney (AU)
Corresponding author
Arciuli, Joanne
ORCID
Venue
Autism
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2020-01-13
Volume
24
Issue
5
Pages
1031-1046
ISSN
  • 1362-3613 (ISSN-L)
  • 1461-7005
DOI
10.1177/1362361319894829
PMC
PMC7309356
OpenAlex
W2998906852
Cited by
47
References
42
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2
FWCI
0.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Autism (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
University of Sydney (SOAR Research Fellowship)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Health › Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family and Disability Support Research
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Indigenous Australians, autism diagnosis, autism prevalence, misdiagnosis, caregiver perspectives, service provider perspectives, autism services, access to services, marginalization, developmental disabilities
MeSH terms
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Australia, Autistic Disorder, Humans, Prevalence, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review