Brief Report: Identifying Concerns of Military Caregivers with Children Diagnosed with ASD Following a Military Directed Relocation.

Farley et al. (2022) sent a short survey to 25 military caregivers who had just moved. They asked one open question: "What worries you most about getting ABA for your child after this PCS move?"

The team grouped the answers into themes. They wanted to find the exact steps that cause the longest delays.

Three bottlenecks popped up in every answer. First, new base = new wait-list. Second, families must get fresh referrals even if the child already has an autism diagnosis. Third, each clinic repeats a long intake before therapy can start.

Caregivers said these steps add "three-plus months of nothing" while the child loses skills.

Eussen et al. (2016) saw the same problem earlier. Their bigger survey of 189 spouses showed moves hurt both access and quality. E et al. zoom in on ABA and name the exact paperwork that slows things down.

Wallace-Watkin et al. (2023) pooled 18 studies on underserved families. Long wait-lists showed up for everyone, not just the military. The new data say frequent moves make the wait-list problem repeat every two to three years.

Straiton-Webster et al. (2025) found rural kids get 11 fewer ABA hours per month. E et al. add that even urban military kids can get zero hours for months after a move because the intake clock restarts. Same service gap, different cause.

If you serve military families, treat every PCS move like a new intake storm. Before the packers arrive, call the gaining base’s TRICARE provider list and secure a spot on the ABA wait-list. Ask the losing provider to send the full treatment plan and most recent assessment so the new clinic can skip parts of the intake. These two steps can shave weeks off the gap and keep skill loss to a minimum.