Risk as Social Context: Immigration Policy and Autism in California¹

Abstract

Motivated by the dramatic increase in autism diagnoses in recent years, research into risk factors has uncovered substantial variation in autism prevalence by race/ethnicity, SES, and geography. Less studied is the connection between autism diagnosis rates and the social and political context. In this article, we link the temporal pattern of autism diagnosis for Hispanic children in California to state and federal anti-immigrant policy, particularly ballot initiative Proposition 187, limiting access to public services for undocumented immigrants and their families. Using a populationlevel dataset of 1992-2003 California births linked to 1992-2006 autism case records, we show that the effects of state and federal policies toward immigrants are visible in the rise and fall of autism risk over time. The common epidemiological practice of estimating risk on pooled samples is thereby shown to obscure patterns and mis-estimate effect sizes. Finally, we illustrate how spatial variation in Hispanic autism rates reflects differential vulnerability to these policies. This study reveals not only the spillover effects of immigration policy on children's health, but also the hazards of treating individual attributes like ethnicity as risk factors without regard to the social and political environments that give them salience.

Racially Charged Legislation and Latino Health Disparities: The Case of Arizona's S.B. 1070

“…Recently, scholars have begun to examine the effect of racialized 2 political events and decisions on minority health (Fountain and Bearman 2011;Lauderdale 2006;Malat, Timberlake, and Williams 2011;Moller 1998). They argue that political events with racial=eth-ethnic implications can affect the health of those groups targeted by the events, either positively or negatively (Fountain and Bearman 2011;Lauderdale 2006;Malat et al 2011;Moller 1998).…”

Environmental factors associated with autism spectrum disorder: a scoping review for the years 2003–2013

“…Maternal immigrant status is another social factor that emerged in eight studies 104,208,243,[247][248][249][250][251] and two systematic reviews 13,100 supporting an association with ASD or ASD subtype. Migrant mothers had a higher prevalence of offspring with ASD in studies from Sweden, the United Kingdom and Australia.…”

Autism Spectrum Disorders and Developmental Disabilities in Children From Immigrant Families in the United States

“…15,16 Given the growing number of children from immigrant families, the differences in prevalence of ASDs and select DDs across studies, [17][18][19] and the complexity of service systems for ASDs and DDs, it is important to understand the patterns of health care experience for families and maximize health outcomes of children with ASDs and select DDs from immigrant families to minimize overall cost for all stakeholders. 20,21 Select DDs in this study includes children reported having ADHD or attention deficit disorder (ADD), learning disabilities, and any developmental delay, which are highly prevalent DDs. 22 Our study is the first to explore this important public health issue by examining the relationship between immigrant household status and access to a medical home, insurance, and education services for children with ASDs and select DDs by using the data from the 2007 National Survey of Children' s Health (NSCH) and the 2007 NSCH medical home composite measure.…”