Autism Spectrum Disorder in Rural Georgia: Education and Resources

项目摘要 自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种以非典型社交为特征的疾病， 僵化的思维和重复的行为，这是越来越普遍，与1在每 54名儿童符合诊断标准。ASD的体征和症状可以在其 表现，从相对轻微的损害到症状严重到足以阻止 ASD患者独立生活。社会支持和早期干预治疗 但是可以显著改善几种ASD症状的严重程度。特别是 当治疗和干预开始时，儿童年龄越小，效果越好。 最终是。虽然儿童在18个月大时就可以被可靠地诊断为ASD， 诊断时的平均年龄为4.5岁，这意味着ASD儿童经常错过 缺乏诊断的治疗机会。延迟诊断尤其常见于 农村社区的孩子。调查ASD延迟的可能原因的研究 农村社区的诊断发现缺乏父母对ASD的了解， 临床医生诊断患有ASD的幼儿，以及缺乏有关采取措施的知识 让孩子接受自闭症测试是重要因素。为了解决与ASD相关的 在农村社区的差距，我们创建了一个网页，致力于帮助家庭， 受ASD影响的个体导航诊断过程。我们的网页将用户引导到ASD “入职”组织，也有资源，寻找早期干预治疗 中心附近的家庭社区，提供链接到财政资源，并链接到 社区支持组织。我们想扩大我们的网页成为一个在线 ASD工具包，将审查农村家庭谁有一个孩子患有ASD。我们的工具包将 还通过以下方式征求家庭的意见，为家庭提供指导内容创作的机会： 用户反馈问题和焦点小组。ASD ToolKit的目标是创建一个易于 在格鲁吉亚农村地区与ASD一起生活和管理ASD的使用指南， 受ASD影响的家庭我们还将创建关于ASD诊断的在线课程， 为农村医生提供资源，这些资源将由受ASD影响的家庭提供信息。我们 我将通过用户反馈问题和ASD邀请我们的目标医生提供反馈 资源测验。最终，我们将使用我们在课程中收到的医生输入来开发 继续医学教育（CME）计划，将通过ECHO项目提供。

PROJECT SUMMARY Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a condition characterized by atypical social communication, rigid thinking, and repetitive behavior that is becoming increasingly prevalent, with 1 in every 54 children meeting the diagnostic criteria. ASD signs and symptoms can vary broadly in their presentation, from relatively mild impairments to symptoms severe enough that they prevent individuals with ASD from living independently. Social support and early intervention therapies however can significantly ameliorate the severity of several ASD symptoms. Notably, the younger children are when therapies and interventions are begun, the more effective they will ultimately be. While children can be reliably diagnosed with ASD at as young as 18 months, the average age at time of diagnosis is 4.5 years which means that children with ASD often miss therapeutic opportunities for lack of a diagnoses. Delayed diagnoses are especially common in children from rural communities. Research that investigated possible causes for delayed ASD diagnoses in rural communities found lack of parental knowledge about ASD, hesitancy among clinicians to diagnose young children with ASD, and a lack of knowledge regarding steps to take to have a child tested for ASD to be significant factors. In order to address ASD-related disparities in rural communities, we created a webpage dedicated to helping families and individuals effected by ASD navigate the diagnostic process. Our webpage directs users to ASD “on-boarding’ organizations, and also has resources for finding early intervention therapy centers near their home communities, provides links to financial resources, and links to community based support organizations. We would like to expand our webpage into an online ASD ToolKit that will be reviewed by rural families who have a child with ASD. Our ToolKit will also give families opportunities to direct content creation by soliciting families’ input through user feedback questions and focus groups. The goal of the ASD ToolKit is to create an easy to use guide for living with and managing ASD in rural Georgia that has been shaped insights from families affected by ASD. We will also create an online course about ASD diagnosis and resources for rural physicians that will be informed by input from families affected by ASD. We will invite feedback from our targeted physicians though user feedback questions and an ASD resources quiz. Ultimately, we will use the physician input we receive on the course to develop a continuing medical education (CME) program that will be available through Project ECHO.