Summary 1:
Helping Latinx Children Who Have Autism
Please click this (link) to read a description in Spanish about a pilot study examining a
parent-implemented intervention for children with autism from Latinx backgrounds.
Latinx families of children with autism face many challenges accessing high-quality healthcare services for
their child. Current best practice is to provide autism services as early as possible, actively involve
parents and other caregivers in the child’s intervention services, and to address core symptoms of autism
within a culturally and linguistically relevant framework. However, Latinx children with autism tend to be
diagnosed at later ages, have limited access to family-centered and culturally relevant intervention
services, and make less progress than peers from mainstream backgrounds.
To address these disparities, Drs. Kinard and Watson from the UNC Chapel Hill Division of Speech and
Hearing Sciences conducted a pilot study examining an early intervention for Spanish-speaking families of
children with autism. The intervention used a parent-coaching model, where a Spanish-speaking
interventionist coached parents on strategies that they could use to enhance their child’s
social-communication skills. The main modification made to this program from previous versions was to
translate materials into Spanish. Three families of young children with autism (2 – 4 years old)
participated in the intervention. Parents also completed interviews to explore the intervention’s
feasibility and acceptability for their language and culture.
Two out of three children improved social-communication behaviors after participating in the intervention,
providing moderate evidence for the intervention’s effectiveness. One child did not demonstrate
improvements during the intervention, possibly due to mismatches between the intervention program and the
family’s cultural and linguistic background. Despite this finding, all families indicated in their
interviews that the intervention program was feasible and acceptable for their culture. Future studies
should explore what additional cultural and linguistic adaptations should be made to parent-coaching
interventions to enhance their effectiveness for Latinx families, especially for parents who primarily
speak Spanish and have limited resources to support their participation in the program. Overall, the
results from this study are promising and suggest that parent-coaching interventions provide one possible
avenue of reducing disparities for Spanish-speaking families of children with autism.
Summary 2:
Focus on Autism Spectrum Disorder: Training Videos
Please click this link (https://www.med.unc.edu/ahs/pearls/service/en-espanol/
to access "Focus on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)," a series of educational videos for professionals and
families of individuals with autism. This work is available for free and was made possible by the Hyatt
Rotary Club Public Service Award, UNC Carolina Center for Public Service; Partners of the Americas,
Chapters in La Paz, Cochabamba, Utah, North Carolina, and New Mexico; RAFT Altiplano; and Hospital Arco
Iris.
These educational videos are divided into three series: (1) assessment and diagnostic procedures; (2)
intervention and therapy strategies; and (3) medical considerations for individuals with autism. The
videos are intended for a wide audience, including: (1) students in fields related to autism; (2)
professionals, such as therapists, psychologists, doctors, and teachers; and (3) family members, including
parents or other family members of individuals with autism. This work was created with the country of
Bolivia in mind; however, much of the information applies to the international community.
You are welcome to use these videos however is most useful to you, whether that be for supplementary
materials for university courses, training events for professionals, or family support groups. You may
watch all of the videos or just one video to match your needs and objectives. Feel free to share the link
with your colleagues.
Feel free to contact us at formación.en.autismo@unc.edu
as you use these videos to tell us how they can be improved or what other areas of support would be
helpful.