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Parent Perspectives on Community Mental Health Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Abstract

The community mental health (CMH) system provides treatment for behavioral and psychiatric problems in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although parent stakeholder perspectives are important to improving care, these perspectives have not been systematically examined for this population in the CMH sector. Twenty-one semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with parents of children with ASD who received services in CMH clinics. Themes related to child clinical histories, service access and experiences with the CMH system revealed a specific trajectory of service need identification, obtaining a diagnosis, and experience with services. Each trajectory stage was marked by high parent stress. Results provide information about the characteristics of children with ASD served in community mental health clinics and direction for targeted improvement efforts.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by K23MH077584 (L.B.F.) and K01MH69665 (M.B.E.). Additionally, Dr. Brookman-Frazee is an investigator with the Implementation Research Institute (IRI), at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis; through an award from the National Institute of Mental Health (R25 MH080916-01A2). The authors thank Drs. Ann Garland and Lawrence Palinkas for their feedback on this manuscript and Mary Joyce Juan for assistance with interview transcription and coding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    Lauren Brookman-Frazee & Robin Taylor

  2. Child and Adolescent Services Research Center at Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego, CA, USA

    Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Mary Baker-Ericzén, Nicole Stadnick & Robin Taylor

  3. San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA

    Nicole Stadnick

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  1. Lauren Brookman-Frazee
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  2. Mary Baker-Ericzén
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  3. Nicole Stadnick
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  4. Robin Taylor
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Correspondence to Lauren Brookman-Frazee.

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Brookman-Frazee, L., Baker-Ericzén, M., Stadnick, N. et al. Parent Perspectives on Community Mental Health Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Child Fam Stud 21, 533–544 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-011-9506-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-011-9506-8

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