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Intersectionality Blog
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Intersectionality and Autism in Marginalized Populations

You might be wondering what intersectionality is. According to the Vox.com website’s

article, “The Intersectionality Wars” (2019) and Wolbring & Nasir, (2024), intersectionality was

coined by Professor Kimberle Crenshaw. It describes how race, class, gender, and other

individual characteristics “intersect” with one another and overlap. Intersectionality was

developed by Black feminists to counter approaches that failed to consider how multiple

intersecting identities together shape our experiences of oppression and privilege (Wolbring &

Nasir, 2024). It argued that intersectionality has an important role in bioethical research by

making inequities visible, creating better health data collections and embracing self-reflection

(Wolbring & Nasir, 2024).

For those of you who do not know what Autism is, I will provide some context.

According to Teixeira et al., (2024), “Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex

neurodevelopmental disorder defined by a spectral presentation of social communication and

social interaction impairments in multiple contexts with a predominance of deficits in socio-

emotional reciprocity; deficits in verbal and non-verbal communication skills used for social

interaction; and deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, as well as

restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities”. When discussing autism

from the intersectionality perspective, someone has different identities besides being autistic,

such as race, gender, income level, and culture (Montiel-Nava, et al, 2024). The sad reality is the

race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and locality all factor into the complex equation

that determines if and when a child is diagnosed with autism, and what level of care that child

might receive (Sassu & Volkmar, 2022).

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Intersectionality and Bias, Privilege, and Power

Intersectionality plays a big role in providing group therapy or support groups. There

will be people from all walks of life that attend support groups. There will be low-, middle-, and

high-income families. There will be different ethnicities, White, Black, Asian, Native American

etc. When leading a support group, it is good to lay down some ground rules in the beginning.

For example, what is said in a group, stays in group; be respectful to others; no interrupting; be

supportive to one another etc. When there are people, all dealing with their own situations, it’s

important to make sure they are each heard where they are. It’s important to be aware of any

biases there may be and to check them at the door prior to group starting. It’s important to keep

in mind the different power and privilege the different group attendees bring with them. A social

worker does not want anyone in the group to feel shamed and/or powerless. No one should feel

like they do not matter. Everyone’s situation is important.

In the realm of autism, it can be a hardship for marginalized populations to be heard by

the doctors. I could be a hardship to get to the doctor appointments needed. It could be a

hardship to get medical insurance to cover the appointments. In a study of 495 parents done by

Miller et al., 2022, found that the average diagnosis required a family to interact with 4-5

different clinicians. In a study completed by Weitlauf et. al., (2022), they talked about the biases

in the medical field by practitioners. They noted that it takes longer for a family of color to get

screening and a diagnosis because they are not being heard. The doctors like to a take a “wait

and see” approach. Compared to White Non-Hispanic (WNH) families that can get referrals

right away and the information they provide is accepted by doctors. This is a clear example of

privilege and maybe even power if the WNH families have connections to certain doctors,

hospitals, and/or political clout.

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Intersectionality and Personal Experience

My personal experience has been all over the map throughout my autism journey. My

son is 29 (soon). We had concerns about age 2-3. We were in denial initial of course. No one

wants to learn that there is something wrong with their child. Our family was low-income at the

time. At first, we were overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do. Our families were supportive.

Other families with autistic children or other disabilities helped us tremendously. Our son’s

school case manager was amazing as was his autism coordinator. We would not have the

knowledge we do now if it had not been for all those people supporting us. We have worked

hard to support our son. My husband and I have worked hard at our jobs and would probably be

considered a higher-income family now. We do live in rural MN with little to no specialists or

services. We are required to travel between 1-3 hours to see any specialists. We struggle

sometimes to find supports for our adult son so he can still experience all he wants to experience.

I do not know what it is like to be a lower-income family of color. I do not know what it

is like to have no support. These are examples of things I need to self-reflect about when helping

a group of people or even a single family. They are the experts of their own life. I do not know

what it’s like to walk in their shoes. I want to use active listening to hear what they are going

through and to try to understand to the best of my ability. I want to be able to ask culturally

appropriate questions to get a full picture. I want to be extra careful to self-reflect before

meeting with the families to make sure that any biases are left at the door.

I do get frustrated sometimes because certain groups of people must struggle and fight for

everything to get the support and/or diagnosis they need and are entitled to receive. I think that

is why I like to help people as much as I can. If I can share my story with another family or three

and they gain knowledge from that, that is wonderful. I also hope to gain knowledge from the
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families in the group. We can all learn from each other and hopefully are able to support each

other (social worker to the group and the group to each other; not the group to the social worker).

I want to help break the barriers. I want to help make it better. I want marginalized groups to

not have to fight for everything they are entitled to. I want our rural communities to matter to

politicians. I want people to matter to those that make the decisions that rule our lives. It takes a

village. I want to be part of that village.

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References

Coaston, J. (2019, May 28). The Intersectionality Wars. VOX. https://www.vox.com/the-

highlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-

discrimination.

Miller, H. L., Thomi, M., Patterson, R. M., & Nandy, K. (2023). Effects of Intersectionality

along the Pathway to Diagnosis for Autistic Children with and without Co-Occurring

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in a Nationally-Representative Sample. Journal

of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53(9), 3542–3557.

Montiel-Nava, C., Cecilia Montenegro, M., & Ramirez, A. C. (2023). One world, one autism? A

commentary on using an intersectionality framework to study autism in low-resourced

communities. Psicologia: Teoria e Prática, 25(2), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.5935/1980-

6906/ePTPCP15905.en

Sassu, K. A., & Volkmar, F. R. (2023). Autism and intersectionality: Considerations for school‐

based practitioners. Psychology in the Schools, 60(2), 408–418.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22757

Teixeira, M. C. T. V., Lowenthal, R., Rattazzi, A., Cukier, S., Valdez, D., Garcia, R., Candela,

G. G., Murillo, A. R., Leite, F. P. da S., Pinheiro, G., Woodcock, K., Chung, J. C. Y.,

Mevorach, C., Montiel-Nava, C., & Paula, C. S. (2024). Understanding Emotional

Outbursts: A Cross-Cultural Study in Latin American Children with Autism Spectrum

Disorder. Brain Sciences, 14(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14101010

Amy S. Weitlauf, Alexandra Miceli, Alison Vehorn, Yewande Dada, Theodora Pinnock, Joyce

W. Harris, Jeffrey Hine, & Zachary Warren. (2024). Screening, Diagnosis, and
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Intervention for Autism: Experiences of Black and Multiracial Families Seeking Care.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 54(3), 931–942.

Wolbring, G., & Nasir, L. (2024). Intersectionality of Disabled People through a Disability

Studies, Ability-Based Studies, and Intersectional Pedagogy Lens: A Survey and a

Scoping Review. Societies, 14(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14090176