Shriver Center Awarded $4.3 Million Grant from NIHM to Research Autism Measurement

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center at UMass Chan Medical School is thrilled to announce a $4.3 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIHM).

The 5-year grant will be used to conduct the largest ever research study to understand the barriers to care for limited English proficiency (LEP) families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

“Because these families have been systematically excluded from ASD research, there is a lack of data to address the disparities that exist when it comes to receiving care. Our results will drive measures to be used in future studies of ASD interventions, from treatment trials to policy initiatives, and directly align with the NIMH’s focus on reducing disparities ASD treatment,” said Dr. Sarabeth Broder-Fingert, Principal Investigator on the project.

The research will consist of a multi-lingual, national survey of families of underserved children with ASD to understand what patient, provider, and structural factors are associated with disparities in care for families with LEP. The research will be conducted in five languages (Spanish, Haitian-Creole, Vietnamese, Mandarin, English) and supported by the Autism Cares Network (ACN), a national network of 20 large, geographically diverse hospital systems focused on improving care for ASD.

Once the survey research is complete, qualitative interviews will be conducted to better understand survey findings and place them in context to make recommendations for data and policy decisions to drive change.