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Frequency and Correlates of Service Access Among Youth with Autism Transitioning to Adulthood

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Abstract

This study examined service receipt and unmet service needs among youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in their last year of high school, as well as the youth (intellectual disability, race/ethnicity, autism severity, comorbid psychiatric diagnoses, behavior problems, adaptive behavior) and family (income, parental health, parental depressive symptoms, parental anxiety) correlates of service access. Thirty-nine families of youth with ASD participated. Data were collected via parental interview/questionnaire and youth psychological evaluation. Results suggested that this sample was underserved relative to a nationally-representative cohort. Those with a comorbid psychiatric diagnosis and lower levels of adaptive behavior received more services. Greater unmet needs were reported for youth who were racial/ethnic minorities, who had more behavior problems, and whose parents had greater anxiety.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (K01 MH92598, J. L. Taylor, PI) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (CTSA award UL1TR000445). Core support was provided by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P30 HD15052, E. M. Dykens, PI). The contents of this project are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent official views of the National Institutes of Health. We are grateful to the families who participated in this research, to Dr. Amie Duncan for her assistance in data collection, as well as to Dr. Leann Smith for providing feedback on an earlier version of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Peabody Box 40, 230 Appleton Place, Nashville, TN, 37203, USA

    Julie Lounds Taylor

  2. Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Natalie A. Henninger

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Correspondence to Julie Lounds Taylor.

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Taylor, J.L., Henninger, N.A. Frequency and Correlates of Service Access Among Youth with Autism Transitioning to Adulthood. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 179–191 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2203-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2203-x

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