There is an association between the education level of an autistic children's parents and the likelihood of that child receiving services. Meaning the more educated a child's parents are, the more likely they are to seek educational and medical services if they suspect their child is autistic, and thus the more likely their children are to be diagnosed as autistic.

This being the case, the current situation in American education, at least, which continues to have racially disproportionate results favoring greater degrees of achievement by white students, is thus heavily weighted toward perpetuating autism as a white phenomenon. According to the Civil Society Institute, 75% of white students graduate from U.S. high schools, but only 50% of black students, 51% of Native American students, and 53% of Hispanic students do.