Promoting Equitable Access to Autism Diagnosis and Support Services for Asian Children

This project will improve access to healthcare and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapies for Asian children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), ultimately improving their long-term developmental outcomes. Core strategies include:

• Recruiting and certifying CHWs from Asian communities as Autism Navigators.
• Enhancing the referral process with culturally relevant standardized forms and information resources.
• Fortifying the ASD support community through outreach, advocacy, and family-centered workshops.

Increasing Autism Trained CHWs from Asian Communities: The project will train 7+ Asian CHWs as Autism Navigators, collaborating with partners such as CISC, Manos Unidas, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, and Sea Mar. Navigators will guide families through various stages, including pre-and post-diagnosis engagement, insurance benefits access, and community resource sharing.

Improving the Referral Process: A standardized referral process will be developed, incorporating culturally and linguistically appropriate forms. Kindering’s Navigator will collaborate with partners to adapt forms and promote their use among ABA providers, streamlining the experience for families and minimizing the need to repeat personal stories.

Strengthening the Autism Support Community: Family-centered workshops will educate families on autism, neurodiversity, and navigating the school district support system. Workshops will foster community building and involve families in the referral process. Feedback from families, CHWs, and partners will guide ongoing improvements to documents and processes.

Increasing Autism Diagnosis Capacity within Asian Communities: Recruitment of doctors from the Asian community for autism diagnosis training will address the shortage of trained physicians. Collaborative efforts with Seattle Children’s Hospital, University of Washington, and Center of Excellence (COE) training aim to enhance autism diagnosis capacity.

Feedback Workshop: The project concludes with a Feedback Workshop to review learnings and consider improvements. Key questions include enhancing cultural literacy, making service/process changes, and exploring ways to adapt services for Asian families.

Outreach: Kindering’s Navigator will spearhead outreach efforts, amassing and sharing information about local ABA providers. Collaboration with CHW Autism Navigators and project partners will focus on increasing engagement for Asian families seeking autism support services.

About Our Grantee

Kindering

Kindering’s mission is to embrace children of diverse abilities by providing the finest education and therapies and nurture hope, courage and the skills to soar. They are committed to a more equitable and inclusive world, where all children can reach their fullest potential, regardless of their abilities, race, ethnicity, income status or other demographic characteristics. Since 1962, Kindering has helped children (birth to 11) with disabilities and developmental delays reach their fullest potential.