Comparing Indicators of Advocacy Ability and Service Access Between Latino and White Families of Transition-Aged Youth With Autism.

Whaling et al. (2025) asked Latino and White parents of transition-age youth with autism about advocacy skills and service access.

They used a survey to compare how each group rated their own knowledge, family-level empowerment, and systemic empowerment.

White families said they knew more about available services and felt more able to change the system.

Latino families felt strong inside the home but less able to deal with schools or agencies.

Overall, the results were mixed: each group had one area where they scored higher.

Aleman-Tovar et al. (2022) extends these findings. Their interviews showed Latino parents want live or online help, not paper brochures.

Walsh et al. (2017) foreshadowed the gap. Their national survey found fewer than 10% of youth with ASD get proper health-care transition planning, with race and income driving the shortfall.

Mirzaian et al. (2025) adds context. Community groups in their survey named stigma and bias as top barriers, helping explain why Latino families in the target study felt less system power.

You now have data showing Latino families feel confident at home but lost in the system. Pair this with Janeth’s finding that they prefer live or online learning. Start small: invite families to a Zoom walk-through of transition forms, with Spanish captions and a Q&A. One session can boost both service knowledge and systemic empowerment.