Work

Services in Minoritized Autistic Adolescents and Adults Varying in Language Skills

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Background Racially and ethnically minoritized (minoritized) autistic individuals face intersectional disparities in services access in the transition to adulthood. Our understanding of disparities is limited by systematic exclusion from research and inadequate approaches to characterizing services. To address these gaps and effect advocacy, this study: 1) examined services received, unmet service needs, and barriers in minoritized autistic adolescents and adults, and 2) determined if language, NVIQ, and autism traits predict services when deployed as binary or continuous variables. Method Academic and community partners tailored CBPR to a local context. Participants ( N = 73, ages 13-30) completed a behavioral assessment protocol. Participants and caregivers provided information on services received, unmet service needs, and barriers to services. Data were analyzed using descriptives and regression. Results Participants received multiple services yet had multiple unmet service needs and barriers. Effects of services differed by approach. Language impairment, but not language scores, predicted receiving more services. High levels of autism traits and autism trait scores predicted more unmet service needs. Implications While the number of services and unmet service needs were similar to prior work, differences in individual service variables and effects support attention to heterogeneity. Findings support intersectional approaches to CBPR and autism research. Learning outcomes After reading the article, the learner will be able to: 1) summarize knowledge gaps about access to services; 2) explain the relevance of tailoring CBPR to a local context; and 3) describe implications of findings for clinicians and autistic individuals.

Source: Seminars in Speech and Language

DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1793913

Authors: Teresa Girolamo, Alicia Escobedo, Samantha Ghali, Kyle Greene-Pendelton, Iván Campos, Poornima Ram-Kiran

Institutions: San Diego State University, California State University, San Bernardino, University of Kansas, University of Washington

Language: English

Topic: Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, Fondation Pour l'Audition, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders