Cultural variations in behaviours related to ASD in South African children

Abstract

This paper attempts to draw attention to the variable ways autism presents across cultures. If the assumption that ASDs manifests similarly across all cultures, then the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), the western gold standard for diagnosing ASDs, will be able to accurately discriminate those children that have ASDs from those that do not, regardless of a child's cultural background. The study on which the article is based is part of a larger international research project, entitled the KwaZulu-Natal-ASD (K-ASD) study, which aimed to explore the diagnostic ability of the ADOS in special needs schools in a non-western context. Method: The study used a matched blinded sample comprising of an atypically developing ASD and non-ASD group from Black, White and Indian ethnicities. The sample came from special needs schools in the greater eThekwini area. The experimental group comprised people with ASD and the control group was a learning disabled group that did not have ASD. This study explored the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) algorithm subcategory scores of a sample of 26 children (6-11 years of age) who were administered modules 1-3 of the ADOS. An ANOVA revealed significant differences in the communication and the reciprocal social interaction algorithm's. This indicated a cultural variation in behaviours, since Black participants behaved in various gestural ways that were significantly different to the manner in which White children behaved to the ADOS testing. The results of this study indicate potential for misdiagnosis if ethnicity and cultural variables are not considered.