Autistic individuals face a number of challenges in accessing equitable health care services. These challenges make it difficult for them to maintain health and well-being. Bishop-Fitzpatrick (2017) undertook a scoping review to understand the health disparities that autistic people face.

Some of the findings of this review include that autistic people face disparities in healthcare access due to racial disparities and socioeconomic status. Parents of African American and Latino children were more likely than parents of White children to report barriers in healthcare access and healthcare disparities. In addition, parents reported poorer access to care for children who came from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

This scoping review provides key insights into the status of healthcare disparities for autistic people, however, there are substantial gaps in this review. This review largely did not address healthcare disparities for autistic adults, which is striking considering that a large portion of the autistic population is adults. In addition, this review did not provide insights into other factors that may be contributing to healthcare disparities, such as gender identity and LGBTQ+ status.