Expediting Access to Autism Specific Intervention for Young Autistic Children Living in Rural North Carolina: a Pilot Study
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to assess whether telehealth-based Family Navigation (FN) expedites enrollment (e.g., reduces time in days) in community-based autism intervention for toddlers under the age of 4 living in Rural NC after their initial diagnosis of autism. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does Family Navigation decrease the time to initiation of intervention for rural toddlers with autism? Does Family Navigation improve developmental outcomes at 18 months post-diagnosis of autism? Does Family Navigation improve caregiver well-being? Caregivers in the Family Navigation condition will receive 4 research-based individual sessions with a trained navigator to support them in identifying and enrolling in recommended autism early intervention services. All navigation sessions will be delivered virtually via phone/Zoom. Researchers will compare participants who receive family navigation to participants who receive the standard of care (educational materials) to see if family navigation outperforms the standard of care.
Eligibility
- Age range
- 1–99 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Children up to 48 months who have a new diagnosis of autism (within the last month) or who are waiting for a diagnosis of autism AND their caregiver. * Live in North Carolina, in one of the 78 rural counties. * Caregiver must be over the age of 18 * The caregiver must speak conversationally fluent English. Exclusion Criteria: * No access to a telephone or internet connection for phone calls or video conferencing. * Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is ruled out in the child.
Interventions
- BehavioralVirtual Family Navigation
Participants randomized to the Family Navigation condition will receive up to 4 research-based individual sessions with a trained navigator to support them in identifying and enrolling in recommended autism early intervention services. All navigation sessions will be delivered virtually via phone/Zoom.
- BehavioralEducational Materials
The comparison condition ("Educational Materials") consists of providing the participant's caregivers information about early intervention and community-based supports (i.e., infant-toddler programs, transition to school-based supports, family support groups, local organizations. Families in this condition will receive this information throughout 4 timepoints in the first 3 months after enrolling.
Location
- Carolina Institute for Developmental DisabilitiesCarrboro, North Carolina