Mapping the Distribution of Autism From the Census of Northern Ireland, 2021

This piece examines the data and preliminary geographical patterns yielded from a question on autism included in the Census of Northern Ireland in 2021. There are two objectives here: (a) to present summary statistics, indicators of spatial clustering, and assess the correlation of autism with other census-based socioeconomic indicators, and (b) to assess the opportunities and limitations offered by this dataset in light of international work on the spatial distribution of autism. This exercise reveals evidence of spatial clustering and patterning, particularly within urban areas (the City of Belfast especially), and strong differences between urban Belfast and the Rest of Northern Ireland. Explorations of socioeconomic correlates of autism show an association between autism and family structure, education and labour market status. Lay Abstract A Geography of Autism? Preliminary Findings From the Northern Ireland Census, 2021 There is a lot of research coming out about Autism and neurodiversity. Part of that research includes studies using maps and other tools from geography. These maps allow us to look at where Autism rates might be high or low, and to see if there are any patterns. Do places with high or low rates of Autism cluster together? Are places with high Autism rates closer to places where people or families who suspect neurodivergence might go to get an assessment? Once we know this, we can then start to look at other features of places, like the percentage of people unemployed, living in poverty, lone parent families or levels of education. This lets us figure out whether certain features are correlated with Autism. Are areas with higher percentages of lone parent families more likely to also have high Autism rates? This is important because past studies might have looked at environmental influences in Autism such as whether an area was near a busy motorway or a source of environmental contamination. I am interested in what a region like Northern Ireland can tell us about why certain areas might have higher rates of Autism. This will let us figure out more about how detection works, where services might be needed and how information on neurodivergence might spread within certain types of community more so than others.