Understanding service differences for diverse children with autism
Validating Measures and Unpacking Differences in Service Use for Diverse Children with Autism
This project asks families of young children with autism who speak Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Haitian-Creole, or English about their experiences getting care to learn what makes it harder or easier to access services.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of Massachusetts Med Sch Worcester NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Worcester, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11099788 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You and other families will be invited to complete a large multilingual survey (about 2,730 families) through the Autism Cares Network to make sure questions about parent stress, stigma, and discrimination work the same in Spanish, Haitian-Creole, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and English. The team will compare results across language and cultural groups to identify differences in service use and barriers to care. Researchers will follow up with interviews of selected families to hear more about real-world experiences and explain survey findings. Finally, experts will use consensus methods from implementation science to turn what they learn into practical strategies to improve access to services.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are families of young children with autism, especially those with limited English proficiency who speak Spanish, Haitian-Creole, Vietnamese, Mandarin, or English.
Not a fit: This project may not directly benefit adults with autism, families who are not seeking services, or people outside the participating hospital network, and it does not provide clinical treatment.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to better, culturally and linguistically appropriate tools and practical strategies that help families with limited English get timely autism services for their children.
How similar studies have performed: Smaller studies have shown disparities in care for non-English-speaking families, but this large multilingual validation combined with follow-up interviews is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
Worcester, United States
- Univ of Massachusetts Med Sch Worcester — Worcester, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Broder-Fingert, Sarabeth — Univ of Massachusetts Med Sch Worcester
- Study coordinator: Broder-Fingert, Sarabeth
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.