"How Well is an Autism Diagnosis Communicated to Familes?": Introduction to the Questionnaire

As I mentioned in my first blogpost, a major component of my research is understanding how well a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is communicated to families and what can be done to improve the process. Over the next few months as I continue to observe how autism treatment is communicated to families, I will also conduct an experiment. My hypothesis is that a lower understanding of an ASD diagnosis leads to a more stigmatized view of the disorder and a more uncertain idea of how to proceed with management and treatment after diagnosis. To test my hypothesis, I am interviewing families of children with an Autism diagnosis (between the ages of 0-18) through a survey or a personal interview and asking them different questions about their experience of receiving a diagnosis.

I have attached a link to my survey which gives an idea of the types of questions I am asking and a framework for upcoming posts where I will discuss the results of my findings. This survey will be handed to interested families at SARRC, and those who are a part of the PRT and ABA therapy program at SARRC well. I will also try to survey families outside of SARRC.

If you happen to know any families that have kids with ASD, please share this survey or send them a link to my blog! I look forward to sharing what I learn through this survey! Stay tuned!