Abstract
Families from underrepresented and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds face significant barriers in accessing evidence-based treatment and support for children with a new diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Parent-focused interventions that increase parent empowerment are shown to improve child and family outcomes. Secondary quantitative data from a recently concluded randomized controlled trial of the Mind the Gap caregiver-focused peer navigator autism intervention were analyzed. A total of 118 parents or caregivers of young children with a recent diagnosis of autism were divided into two study groups. Participants in the treatment group received “coaching” from culturally matched, trained peer-parents. Self-rated empowerment scores at pre- and post-intervention indicate that study participants receiving peer coaching and those with greater attendance in coaching sessions showed significant increases in empowerment scores over participants without peer coaching and those attending fewer coaching sessions. Findings inform broader research in the utility of peer coaching and navigation in autism interventions and signal a need for continued investigation into specific aspects of autism parent navigation interventions that may be most beneficial for increasing empowerment.