Meeting FACES: Preliminary Findings from a Community Workshop for Minority Parents of Children with Autism in Central North Carolina.
A one-day parent workshop lifted minority families' trust in local autism services.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers ran a one-day community workshop called Meeting FACES. It served minority parents of children with autism in central North Carolina.
The team asked parents how they felt about the event and what help they still needed to reach local services.
What they found
Parents left the workshop happy. They said they wanted even more support to find and use autism services.
The case study shows a simple, low-cost day can spark engagement.
How this fits with other research
Wallace-Watkin et al. (2023) reviewed 18 studies and listed the same barriers Meeting FACES targets: access, service variety, and stigma. The workshop is a live answer to those problems.
Rosales et al. (2021) heard Latino families cite language hurdles and low service awareness. Meeting FACES used plain talk and local vendors to knock down those hurdles.
McQuaid et al. (2024) widened the lens. They asked workforce staff how to fix equity gaps. Their fix list lines up with Meeting FACES: bring services to the community and partner with parents from day one.
Why it matters
You can copy Meeting FACES in your town. Reserve a library room for one Saturday. Invite local autism providers to set up tables. Give parents handouts in their language and time to ask questions. A single day may not teach skills, but it builds trust and shows families where to knock next.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
In North Carolina (NC), there are many resources designed to support the needs of children with autism and their families, and yet a troubling gap in underserved families' access to those services. To address this gap, the Meeting FACES workshop was designed to: (a) provide an opportunity for parents, educators, and service providers to build partnerships, (b) provide parents with opportunities to learn about available autism services in their communities, and (c) assess the needs of underrepresented families of children with autism in NC. Findings indicate that minority families of children with autism in central NC require more supports to access and navigate services. Additionally, participants were very satisfied with Meeting FACES and were interested in participating in future FACES programming.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2020 · doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04295-4