Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Despite their importance, little is known about how social drivers of health shape communicative outcomes in autism. Even less is known when considering the intersection of race and language impairment.
An understanding of factors in communicative outcomes is key for characterizing developmental trajectories and informing supports. This cross-sectional observational study examined the role of social drivers of health in communicative outcomes of racially and ethnically minoritized autistic adolescents and adults. Correlational analyses revealed associations between social drivers of health on social communication impairment and real-world communication.
Generalized linear mixed-effects modeling revealed that language predicted real-world communication, but sense of community predicted social communication impairment. Findings point to the importance of assessing both individual differences and social drivers of health in outcomes in autism research.
Future work should focus on social drivers of health in larger-scale analyses of outcomes in minoritized autistic individuals during the transition to adulthood, considering supports that align with service eligibility and person-centered outcomes.
Keywords: adolescents, adults, autism spectrum disorders, communication and language, environmental factors. Where people live, work, and spend their time is important. Environments can have more or less services or differ in how much they help people feel like they belong to their community.
