Abstract
Early intervention (EI) professionals play an important role in supporting autistic children and their families. When families come from minority ethnic communities, the early autism journey is often more complex than for native-born families for caregivers and professionals alike. Whilst there is growing awareness about parents’ experiences, we have little data from EI professionals on what can be done to improve the experiences, engagement and outcomes for these families. Here, we sought professional insights on their efforts to provide early autism supports for minority ethnic families, namely those from Chinese and South Asian backgrounds.
Through a community-partnered participatory approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with EI professionals who had experience working with autistic children and their families from Chinese and South Asian backgrounds in Australia (n = 18). Data were analysed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis.
Participating EI professionals described the challenge of developing a common language to talk about autism and supports with families, and often had different intervention priorities when compared to parents. They described observing parents’ own unmet mental health and wellbeing needs, which they felt were compounded by shame and stigma associated with autism within their specific communities. Moreover, professionals relayed their powerlessness in effectively supporting parents’ wellbeing due to a funding model focused solely on child goals. Participating professionals felt that the best way to work with families was to start by truly understanding the child, the parent and the family dynamics in order to tailor supports, as well as to encourage community connection and belonging.
The insights offered by EI professionals into how early supports can be adapted to better meet the needs of minority ethnic parents and autistic children can inform more equitable policy-level decision-making for service provision.
•Professionals described working with minority ethic parents and autistic children.•Finding a common language to discuss autism and create shared goals was difficult.•Professionals told of parents’ mental health needs which they could not support.•There should be open discussions about the merit of varied intervention approaches.•Individualised supports based on truly understanding families were endorsed.