Lab Awarded Two Grants to Expand Services for Children with Autism

The Family and Community Intervention (FCI) Lab in the Department of Psychological Science has recently secured two grants related to understanding and expanding services for families of color who have children on the autism spectrum.

Lauren Quetsch, director of the FCI Lab and assistant professor of psychology at the U of A, noted that “only recently has the field of psychological science recognized its lack of inclusivity of historically marginalized populations in research. Autism research is particularly lacking in having representative samples.” She added that “this has impacted our ability to diagnose children who are non-White males and has led to stigma and misdiagnoses from medical professionals.”

The two grants are intended to help correct this lack of inclusivity.

The first grant is $25,000 from the Eagle Autism Foundation in Philadelphia. Quetsch and three colleagues will use the grant to train Black and Latino/a mental health providers who don’t have a prior background in autism services to deliver an evidence-based treatment (Parent-Child Interaction Therapy) for young children with autism. Additionally, Quetsch and her collaborators will create a network of providers in Philadelphia to connect Black and Latino/a professionals (e.g., primary care physicians, occupational therapists) to one another and help reduce any stigma or bias that Black and Latino/a families of children on the autism spectrum may face when seeking a diagnosis or services.

The second award came through SPARK (Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research). SPARK’s mission is “to speed up research and advance our understanding of autism to help improve lives.” The $9,000 grant will enable the FCI Lab to connect with Black families and elicit their perspectives on barriers to treatment services as well as their satisfaction and the effectiveness of these treatments. Specifically, funds will enable Quetsch and her graduate student, Harlee Onovbiona, to research the experiences of Black families of children with autism to get their perceptions of racism while accessing diagnostic and treatment services.

“My mission as the director of the Family and Community Intervention lab is to meaningfully impact families of children with autism by improving their quality of care,” Quetsch said. “It is essential that we recognize how the intersectionality of a diagnosis of autism and living as a Person of Color in the United States may affect families’ experiences with medical and mental health services. I hope these efforts for inclusivity can be small steps forward in making autism care more equitable for Black and Latinx children.”

This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.