Publications

Promote health and well-being by examining characteristics of individuals, caregivers and families, providers, and systems to identify opportunities for improving equity in healthy life outcomes and access to needed supports and services. Unique access to national data sources will provide novel observation of transition experiences across groups and with findings applicable to national systems of care. New approaches to data linkages will provide innovative insight into streamlining and coordinating care, services, and supports. Translation and dissemination of findings across stakeholders will inform policy, practice, clinical guidelines, and future research, and is well-poised to affect health equity for autistic TAYA.

Improve the health and well-being of Latinx autistic TAYA by providing valuable information about disparities in the transition to adulthood and strategies to address them. For example, Medicaid data will be used to describe the transition-age population with ASD and assess disparities in access to services and health outcomes among low-resourced and underserved communities, and understudied Latinx youth – two key research areas identified in the 2017 Report to Congress. The intervention that will be developed to support Latinx autistic TAYA will address the problem of lower participation in transition planning among BIPOC autistic youth,4 and enhance outcomes for participants.

The proposed initiative includes community-based and solution-driven discoveries to address the pressing social and economic issues affecting the health and well-being of Latinx autistic TAYA and their families. Dissemination of findings will impact health equity by facilitating a proactive, coordinated and Positive transition into adult social roles, which in turn supports well-being, and will offer insights for the development of future culturally-informed interventions.

Promote health and well-being by building capacity to serve autistic TAYA. Previous research has found that autistic college students report poorer physical and mental health (e.g., more symptoms of depression and anxiety) than other students, even when controlling for other disabilities.65 There is a dearth of research on the experiences of BIPOC autistic college students, who likely experience compounded health challenges during and after college. Research in this area can inform efforts to intervene at a critical life course transition.

Similarly, building capacity within Title V programs to serve autistic TAYA during the secondary school years (and earlier) can potentially impact upstream factors of health and wellbeing, enhancing healthy life outcomes downstream. Dissemination of findings will emphasize communication of findings to MCH network staff (Title V study) and educators (Autistic Postsecondary Student Study).