(KRON) -- In a world where schools and doctors offices are more open to recognizing signs of neurodivergent conditions in kids, data shows that Hispanic children are less likely to be diagnosed, even though they are just as likely as other kids to have a developmental, learning, or behavioral disord er. The most recent data from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health said that from 2016 to 2021, Hispanic/Latino children aged three to 17 were 5% less likely than all U.S. kids to have been diagnosed with any developmental, learning, and language disorder, and all Hispanic/Latino kids — under the age of 18 — 29% were less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. "It's a very complicated process to get educational accommodations for your child so, for any family, there is going to be a learning curve there," said Dr. Ben Morsa, a clinical psychologist and author and Founder of Tide Pools, a group psychology practice in Oakland. He said what could make it harder to get a diagnosis is that current assessments do not account for a child's culture. Lifestyle, California, USA "There's a set of knowledge that can be hard to obtain but I think for Latino and Hispanic children, particularly the field of psychology, though, this has changed a lot. Many of our assessment measures don't actually include children of immigrant parents, children from the Latino countries, children who are speaking Spanish or speaking bilingually in the home. And so, the types of norms and data and statistical fancy tools that we have as assessors are much rarer for Spanish speaking children," said Dr. Morsa. Data shows that this is true in neurodivergent disorders like autism. Previous studies have shown that lack of access to healthcare because of non-citizenship status, being low-income, and not speak English as a first language face more barriers to being diagnosed, according to the CDC. Dr. Morsa said that when quiet kids come from families lying low because of immigration status, this can not only contribute to them flying under the radar from diagnosis but also create developmental issues for them down the road. "They're missing out on something very important in their childhood, not just happy memories, but also opportunities to really develop skills." Morsa goes on to say that missing out on these experiences can bring challenges in life, "things like anxiety or depression or just a lot of difficulty with identity or relating to others." The good news is that, while more work needs to be done, progress is being made. In 2012, white children were 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than Hispanic/Latino kids, which dropped to 1.2 times by 2014, according to the CDC. Most importantly, Dr. Morsa said the most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to this, is parents. "When we don't have those types of tools or when there are problems with those types of tools, then some of the best data that we get is what the parents see," said Morsa. Dr. Morsa said sometime the flags are obvious, like academic struggles and behavioral issues, but not always. Flags parents can look out for include whether their child is able to negotiate or say no. If they can’t, parents should look into whether that is a challenge for them. Parents should also pay attention to their child’s friendships and whether they struggle to make friends. ...read more read less