| Summary: | Recent studies have suggested that there is an increase rate of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) among children with foreign backgrounds. Within the last 15 years, the number of children in Iceland with foreign backgrounds with suspected NDDs has grown exponentially. The current study is an extension of previous research on this increase in referrals, examining new referrals to the Counselling and Diagnostic Centre (RGR) within a five-year period (N = 1,367). The primary purpose of this work was to present and explore the difference between the referral patterns of native children and children with foreign backgrounds with suspected NDDs. Various potentially associating factors were investigated, including the age group of the referred child, the type of foreign background, and the source of the referral – the referrant – as well as possible interactions among these factors. Potential differences in diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), cerebral palsy (CP), and developmental language disorder (DLD) by RGR for children with native and foreign backgrounds were also explored. Examination of referral patterns for children with native and foreign backgrounds with suspected NDDs revealed that children with foreign backgrounds, more specifically, second-generation immigrants, were indeed referred at a higher rate than native children. Preschool aged children with foreign backgrounds were consistently referred at a higher rate than preschool aged native children, and the school system referred children with foreign backgrounds at a higher rate than native children. Examination of the combined effects of age and referrant revealed that the elevated rate of referral of children with foreign backgrounds likely stems from the school systems referral of pre-school aged children. Conclusive differences were not found between the rates of ASD, ID and CP diagnoses of children with native and foreign backgrounds. DLDs, however, were found to be diagnosed at a significantly higher rate ...
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