Short report: Call to action for autism clinicians in response to anti-Black racism

Anti-Black racism is a pervasive issue in the autism field that affects the autism service pathway, which ranges from identification of concerns to ongoing service navigation. In this short report, we provide a working model of the autism service pathway and highlight ways in which anti-Black racism affects all components of the pathway. We summarize the literature that demonstrates the effects of racism within autism assessment, treatment, and quality of care. We end with six recommendations for systemic change that clinicians can take: (1) including and amplifying Black autistic voices within their organization, (2) continuously learning about and acknowledging the ways in which their discipline perpetuates anti-Black racism, (3) recognizing that cultural humility is a lifelong process, (4) being mindful of the complex pathway that families must navigate to receive autism services, particularly when working with Black individuals, and (5) advocating for system-level changes within their organization and refining changes that are made. LAY ABSTRACT: Black autistic people experience anti-Black racism when interacting with service systems and the clinicians in those systems. In this article, we describe the various steps families take to get services and how anti-Black racism makes that process even harder. We discuss research that shows the negative effects of anti-Black racism in autism assessment, treatment, and quality of care. We then provide five recommendations that clinicians should follow to reduce anti-Black racism in the autism field: (1) find Black autistic people and listen to their opinions about your organization, (2) always keep learning about how your profession promotes anti-Black racism, (3) recognize that the process of a clinician learning to be culturally humble takes time and is never “complete,” (4) pay attention to all of the steps that families must take to receive autism services and how these steps are even harder for Black individuals, and (5) advocate for your organization to make systems-level changes in their policies and procedures.