Do Black Girls Receive Later Developmental Disability Diagnoses?: Results from a National Study of Children in the United States

Abstract This study sought to analyze if age at diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and developmental delay varies by race and sex for children between ages 6 and 17 years old. I used data from the 2011 Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services (“Pathways”), a follow-up survey to the 2009/10 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN). With this nationally representative dataset, I was able to perform ordinary least squares linear regression in Stata 13. Results determined that Black girls were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder about two years later than White girls, nearly three years later than Hispanic girls, and a little over two years later than Other-race girls. Black girls with intellectual disability were diagnosed over two years later than White girls. Implications and theories are discussed