Despite consensus on the importance of early detection and intervention for autistic children, health disparities exist, limiting access to timely services. One specific service type in the United States is Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part C Early Intervention programs, which are federally funded interventions for children birth-to-three with developmental delays. This study aimed to assess access to Part C, Early Intervention services for children who were evaluated for autism spectrum disorder and to examine factors that predicted parent-reported access to these services. This study extracted sociodemographic and service access data from the medical records of 709 children aged 12–40 months who were evaluated for autism spectrum disorder. Results showed that only 50% of the sample had reportedly accessed Part C, Early Intervention services. Those who identified as Black had decreased odds of having accessed Part C, Early Intervention, relative to those who identified as White, while those with a lower age of first parent concern had increased odds of having accessed Part C, Early Intervention. When inputting the independently significant variables into the model, both variables, identifying as Black and a lower age of first concern, remained significantly associated with accessing Part C, Early Intervention. Future work should investigate how these disparities come to be.Lay abstractHealth disparities are defined as preventable differences in the opportunities to achieve optimal health outcomes experienced by marginalized and underrepresented communities. For families with autistic children, health disparities limit accessing early intervention services—which have been found to improve quality of life and other outcomes. One specific early intervention service in the United States is Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part C Early Intervention programs, which are federally funded interventions for children birth-to-three with developmental delays. This study adds to this topic by examining which factors impact accessing Part C, Early Intervention services for children who were evaluated for autism. Results showed that only half of the sample received these services despite there being concerns about development for all children. In addition, results showed that those who identified as Black had decreased odds of having accessed Part C, Early Intervention compared to those who identified as White. These results suggest that there are disparities when it comes to accessing important early intervention services that may be negatively impacting the Black autistic community.

中文翻译：

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获得 C 部分，针对自闭症谱系障碍评估的 4 岁以下儿童的早期干预

尽管人们对自闭症儿童早期发现和干预的重要性达成共识，但健康差距仍然存在，限制了获得及时服务的机会。美国的一种特定服务类型是《残疾人教育法》C 部分早期干预计划，该计划是联邦政府资助的针对发育迟缓的出生至三岁儿童的干预措施。本研究旨在评估接受自闭症谱系障碍评估的儿童获得 C 部分早期干预服务的情况，并检查预测家长报告的获得这些服务的因素。这项研究从 709 名 12-40 个月大的儿童的医疗记录中提取了社会人口统计和服务获取数据，这些儿童接受了自闭症谱系障碍评估。结果显示，据报道只有 50% 的样本获得了 C 部分“早期干预”服务。相对于那些被认定为白人的人，那些被认定为黑人的人获得 C 部分“早期干预”的几率较低，而那些第一父母关心的年龄较低的人获得 C 部分“早期干预”的几率更高。当将独立显着的变量输入到模型中时，这两个变量（被识别为黑人和较低的首要关注年龄）仍然与访问 C 部分“早期干预”显着相关。未来的工作应该调查这些差异是如何形成的。简单来说，健康差异被定义为边缘化和代表性不足的社区在实现最佳健康结果的机会方面存在可预防的差异。对于患有自闭症儿童的家庭来说，健康差异限制了获得早期干预服务——人们发现这些服务可以改善生活质量和其他结果。美国的一项具体早期干预服务是《残疾人教育法》C 部分早期干预计划，该计划是联邦政府资助的针对发育迟缓的出生至三岁儿童的干预措施。这项研究通过检查哪些因素影响对接受自闭症评估的儿童获得 C 部分（早期干预服务）的影响，对这一主题进行了补充。结果显示，尽管人们担心所有儿童的发展，但只有一半的样本接受了这些服务。此外，结果显示，与那些认定为白人的人相比，认定为黑人的人获得 C 部分“早期干预”的几率较低。这些结果表明，在获得重要的早期干预服务方面存在差异，这可能会对黑人自闭症社区产生负面影响。