Equity in the
Autism Community

Equality vs equity

Why Equity Matters

As an organization committed to enabling people to live their absolute best lives, we will continue to focus efforts on improving equity and outcomes for vulnerable populations. It’s essential to acknowledge that people of color are disproportionately negatively impacted and experience later autism diagnoses, misdiagnosis, and longer delays from diagnosis to accessing care (see the CDC’s 2020 Community Report on Autism).

Equally important, there continue to be many people on the autism spectrum who need services and support and deserve equitable access to culturally sensitive care. Equitable evaluation and diagnosis as early as possible can help people be connected to the services they need. Access to medical treatment and services, issues around education, suspension rates, and safety are a few of the issues we acknowledge these issues and try to work together to overcome.

Together We Are Working on Equity Issues

Significant racial inequities exist in access to services for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a multitude of systems. The Autism Society Inland Empire works to advocate using data and our families’ experiences for removing barriers in accessing treatment and other services, and ultimately experience worse health outcomes.

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Individuals with disabilities are 2 to 4 times more likely to die or sustain a critical injury during a disaster than people without disabilities.  In 2020 with the help of LISTOS California, we were able to provide vital Disaster Preparedness training to over 16,000 individuals in our community.

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The autism community has a 96% unemployment rate.  Working together with our partners such as Inland Regional Center, Department of Rehabilitation, and the State Council on Developmental Disabilities – the Autism Employment Collaborative was born with a focus for improving these outcomes.  This included looking at systems to create innovative services to promote accountability, creativity, and stable and sufficient funding streams to support person-centered, meaningful lives.

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In order to address the issue of disparities in accessing Regional Center services for the Latino communities.  The Autism Society Inland Empire received grants from the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) to establish a Community of Practice for groups and non-profit organizations that this community.  The group was established in 2018 and is named Colaboración, Liderazgo, Abogacía, Servicio y Educación (CLASE) Community of Practice which means Collaboration, Leadership, Advocacy, Service, and Education. This Community of Practice strengthens organizations by providing the latest information on accessing and navigating systems and developing resources to be shared so all groups can be even more impactful in their efforts in improving the lives of the families they serve. As of June 2020, 34 leaders from 20 different organizations who serve over 16,000 families in Inland Empire are members.

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Individuals who have autism are seven times more likely to have interactions with police. Through a grant with the California Police Office Standards and Training, we have developed a 4-hour Autism & Developmental Disabilities Curriculum. This training is now being piloted to 240 officers in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. If adopted, it will be used throughout California.

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Educational equity means that each child receives what they need to develop to their full academic and social potential. Working towards equity in schools involves ensuring equally high outcomes, interrupting inequitable practices, examining biases, creating inclusive multicultural school environments for adults and children, and discovering and cultivating the unique gifts, talents, and interests that every human possesses.  The Autism Society Inland Empire is a leadership and systems change organization committed to increasing opportunities to all students with Autism to develop valuable skills and knowledge that help them live a full life and contribute to society.

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COVID brought many challenges to our community.  Issues around obtaining PPE, testing, food, resources, wearing masks, and vaccines impacted our community.  We have worked with partners to ensure access to these critical resources for our population in the Inland Empire.  See our COVID Resource Page including data from this important time in our community.

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