Autism higher among ethnic minorities, says study

IN England around one in 57 (1.76 per cent) children are on the autistic spectrum, a study led by the University of Cambridge has found.

Cambridge scientists alongside researchers from Newcastle University and Maastricht University did a study of more than seven million young people and found that black and Chinese pupils are 26 per cent and 38 per cent more likely to have autism respectively. Socially disadvantaged children are also more likely to have the condition.

Previously done research by the same group had suggested fewer children - one in 64 (1.57 per cent) – are autistic.

The increase is likely because autism – a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world – has become better recognised by both parents and schools in recent years, experts of the research group said.

Lead researcher Dr Andres Roman-Urrestarazu, from the Autism Research Centre (ARC) and Cambridge Public Health at the University of Cambridge, said: “We can now see that autism is much more common than previously thought. We also found significant variations in autism diagnosis in different ethnic minorities, though the reason why this should be the case isn’t clear and warrants further research.”

Pupils with a record of autism in schools are 60 per cent more likely to also be socially disadvantaged, and 36 per cent less likely to speak English, researchers said.

The global prevalence of autism is 1 to 2 per cent of the population, with a reported male to female ratio of 3 or 2 to 1. The National Autistic Society (NAS) has said one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.