Obstacles Faced by Latina Mothers of Children with Autism

Abstract

The CDC's most recent autism prevalence estimates document the continued trend of higher prevalence among non-Hispanic white children compared to Hispanic children. The disproportionate underrepresentation of Latino children in the health, education and service systems is measurable, disadvantaging the child and family. This quantitative study identifies support needs and obstacles experienced by 96 Latina mothers of children with autism, active in Spanish-language parent groups in California. Study measures included the Family Needs Survey and the Caring for My Child Survey. To determine the significance of the results on the Family Needs Survey, an item-by-item chi-square analysis compared results to those of to a similar population from a different study that used the same measure. A high proportion of mothers reported substantial levels of unmet needs in their role as primary caregiver using the Family Needs Survey: all 35 survey items were unmet for at least 50% of mothers; 28 items were common needs. The level and number of unmet needs of mothers in the present study in areas such as social support and care services were significantly greater than the comparison group. On the Caring for My Child Survey, mothers identified multiple barriers personally encountered in obtaining assistance for their children including psychosocial, economic, political, and healthcare factors. Findings are relevant to improve access for Latinos in the health, education and service systems, and to establish a baseline for comparison.

Functional severity and Latino ethnicity in specialty services for children with autism spectrum disorder

“…With respect to community knowledge, research has shown that Latino families and communities have limited knowledge about evidenced‐based services and how to access them (Iland et al . ; Magaña et al . ).…”

“…Related to the first category, community knowledge and perception of ASD, a lack of information in the community was an important factor that creates a barrier to service use, and this factor was also identified as salient in other studies of Latino families of children with ASD (Iland et al . ; Magaña et al . ).…”

Conceptualization of Autism in the Latino Community and its Relationship With Early Diagnosis

“…8,17,19 However, parents of typically-developing children may also offer important insights into family and community factors affecting ASD diagnostic delay. Usually, a parent is not aware that his/her child has ASD until the child is at least 2-3 years old.…”

Parents Taking Action: A Psycho‐Educational Intervention for Latino Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Additionally, Latino children are more likely to be diagnosed later and are less likely than White children to receive specialty autism services including Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)‐based interventions (Liptak et al., ; Magaña, Lopez, Aguinaga, & Morton, ; Mandell et al., ; Palmer, Walker, Mandell, Bayles, & Miller, ). Furthermore, a needs assessment found that the majority of Latino families surveyed needed more information about autism and helping their child, more formal and informal social support, and more financial support (Iland, Weiner, & Murawski, ). Therefore, there is a growing need for the development of effective, affordable, and culturally appropriate interventions for Latino children with ASD and their families.…”

“…majority of Latino families surveyed needed more information about autism and helping their child, more formal and informal social support, and more financial support (Iland, Weiner, & Murawski, 2012). Therefore, there is a growing need for the development of effective, affordable, and culturally appropriate interventions for Latino children with ASD and their families.…”