Autism is more common among Black and Hispanic kids for the first time ever—but only because screening is better

(Credit: Photo by Sam Owens, Evansville Courier & Press via AP, file)

NEW YORK — For the first time, autism is being diagnosed more frequently in Black and Hispanic children than in white kids in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Among all U.S. 8-year-olds, 1 in 36 had autism in 2020, the CDC estimated. That's up from 1 in 44 two years earlier.