Analyzing Community-Based Support Requests Made by Black Families Raising Autistic Children

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Pearson, J. N., Martin, D. M., Stewart-Ginsburg, J. H., Malone, K. M., Manns, L. D. C., Johnson, J., Macko, J., Rivera, A. Q., Lewis, J., Green, K., & Minerali, A. (2024). Analyzing Community-Based Support Requests Made by Black Families Raising Autistic Children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06539-4

Journal or book title
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication date: 26 Sep 2024 Added to AutiHub: 2 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
11
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 11 (9.1%)
  1. Jamie N. Pearson
  2. DeVoshia M. Martin
  3. Jared H. Stewart-Ginsburg
  4. Kayla M. Malone
  1. Lonnie D. C. Manns
  2. Janelle Johnson *
  3. Jennifer Macko
  4. Amelia Q. Rivera
  1. Jetta Lewis
  2. Keshia Green
  3. Amela Minerali

Abstract

PURPOSE: Black families experience additional barriers to accessing autism-related supports compared to White families. Community organizations can help mitigate the negative impact of systemic inequities and lack of support that Black caregivers of autistic family members experience. Little is known about the types of support Black families seek from these organizations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the support needs of Black families raising autistic children as evidenced by communication patterns in a community-based statewide autism organization. Our research questions were: (1) What are the autism-related support needs of Black families raising autistic children; and (2) How do familial demographics influence these support needs? METHODS: We explored the support needs of Black caregivers of autistic family members by analyzing a subset of 1,460 entries (16.8% of the total communication entries) within a database of communication entries from a community-based autism organization in one southeastern state in the United States. We analyzed the frequency of support request types and the relationships between support requests and familial demographics (i.e., rurality, gender, age). RESULTS: We found that Black families most often requested family or individual support, school-related support, and behavioral support. Families requested support with bullying, social services, and health insurance less often. We found significant interactions between the three most requested services and the rurality, gender, and age of the autistic family member. CONCLUSION: We conclude with suggestions for autism support organizations seeking to better meet the needs of Black families.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 3 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
32
With a DOI
28
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
4
4 / 32 (12.5%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
4 / 32 (12.5%)
References with detected author names
29 / 32 (90.6%)
Without detected author names
3
Without a structured title
4
Without a stable identifier
4
References with raw author names still to review
2
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
147
From DOI or external metadata
147
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
3
49 / 147 (33.3%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 98 / 147 (66.7%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
4 / 147 (2.7%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 4 / 49 (8.2%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 4 / 134 (3.0%).
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