15. People of all races are autistic.

Anyone of any race can be autistic. Because of racism, white people get diagnosed with autism more than people of color. But people of color are autistic just as often as white people.

The tests doctors use to diagnose autism were made just by looking at white boys. Doctors decided what autism means by looking at white boys, and they didn’t think about autistic people who aren’t white boys. That’s why people of color get diagnosed with autism a lot less. They are autistic, but doctors don’t notice. Now, doctors are starting to notice more, but people of color still don’t get diagnosed as often as white people.

Autistic kids of color might not get diagnosed with autism, or they might get diagnosed with other disabilities instead of autism. For example, they might get diagnosed with an intellectual disability, or a mental health disability. A lot of times, the diagnosis is wrong! Doctors have wrong ideas about people of color, so they diagnose people of color with other disabilities instead of autism. This isn’t fair!

People of color should get the right diagnosis. Everyone should know that people of color can be autistic, and that people of color are part of the autistic community.