“As a Person of Colour, I Was a Misfit Anyway”: Barriers to Autism Identification According to Ethnically and Racially Minoritized Adults

Background: Ethnic and racial disparities in autism diagnosis have prompted growing interest in the role of “culture” in shaping these inequalities. However, much of the existing literature adopts a deficit-based perspective, locating diagnostic barriers within the cultural beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of ethnically and racially (ER) minoritized groups. These studies often rely on essentialist views of culture, and neglect how broader cultural factors may impact these inequalities. This study delves into some of these neglected cultural factors. Methods: This article draws on 27 in-depth interviews with ER minoritized adults in Belgium and the Netherlands, most of whom were (self-)diagnosed in adulthood. It explores how these individuals make sense of their experiences before diagnosis and examines additional cultural pathways to autism inequalities than those already discussed in autism research. Findings: First, participants frequently interpreted their experienced difficulties with dominant forms of social interaction and communication as consequences of their minoritized status in White environments, shaped by wider processes of othering. This framework for understanding their experiences, which they had internalized through processes of othering, often precluded alternative explanations, such as autism. Second, participants described feeling disconnected from public portrayals of autism, reflecting the historical framing of autism as characteristic of White, middle-class boys and men. Conclusions: These cultural dynamics remain largely absent from autism research on “culture,” which has tended to prioritize deficit-oriented accounts grounded in cultural essentialism. This study challenges such perspectives by focusing on how social structures and power relations shape the visibility and recognition of autism at the level of meaning-making. It addresses a critical gap in the literature by illuminating the intersectional experiences of minoritized autistic individuals navigating exclusionary environments.