ABSTRACTFROM RESEARCH SETTINGS TO PARENTS: THE ROLE OF PARENT SOCIAL NETWORKS IN THE CHOICES THEY MAKE ABOUT SERVICES FOR THEIR CHILD WITH ASDByKatherine Pickard Literature in the ASD field has repeatedly highlighted the need for a more effective framework of disseminating evidence-based practices (EBPs) into community settings. Despite research that has documented the types of services that are being used by parents of children with ASD, research has yet to determine how intervention-related knowledge spreads to parents. The current study sought to clarify the process by which interventions are disseminated to parents through their social networks, and examined the following: 1) What ASD services are primary caregivers accessing, and from whom are they seeking advice when choosing ASD services?; 2) Do social network size, social network density, and social network makeup predict the use of evidence-based or non-evidence-based practices (non-EBPs)?; 3) Do social network size, social network density, and social network formality predict primary caregiver satisfaction with the services that they access for their child?; and 4) Who are the referral sources of EBPs and non-EBPs? Results indicated that social network variables predict primary caregivers' use of EBPs above and beyond their income, education, and their child's ASD symptom severity. Social network variables were not related to primary caregiver satisfaction with service use. Finally, recommendations to EBPs were significantly more likely to come from professions such as speech-language pathologists and behavior specialists. Family members, friends and other parents of a child with ASD were more likely to make recommendations to non-EBPs. The results have significant implications for more effective models of disseminating EBPs within the ASD field.
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