Latino children on the autism spectrum experience less access to autism services and more barriers to service-use than non-Latino White children. Yet, existing research leaves unanswered questions about how cultural, family, and service system-level processes contribute to autism service-use disparities. This study aimed to qualitatively explore how Latina and non-Latina mothers experience similar encounters with autism services. Twenty Latina and non-Latina mothers completed semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences accessing services. Data were analyzed using applied thematic analysis. Ethnicity-based differences emerged in mothers' service-use motivations (i.e., desiring ongoing support vs. eventual departure), service evaluations (i.e., dissatisfaction vs. satisfaction), and service-seeking approaches (i.e., proactive vs. reactive). Findings illustrate how these processes underlying service engagement may contribute to service disparities for Latino children.
Keywords: Autism; Disparities; Expectations; Latinos; Service barriers; Service-seeking.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.