title: Use of autism-related services by families and children.
abstract: This paper describes approaches to care and associated service use by families with a child with autism. A combined telephone and self-administered survey was completed by 301 families with a child, 8 years old or younger, in North Carolina, during the winter of 2003-2004. Findings indicate that 66% of families used one or more approach to care and there was a significant (p < 0.05) association between approach and the pattern of service use. There appears to be a distinctive set of services associated with each approach to care, but with overlap between them. Speech/language therapy at school was the most frequently used service and also identified as the best service. The majority (81%) of families reported they were satisfied with services.
authors.affiliation: Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 725 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., CB #7590, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7590, USA. Kathleen_thomas@unc.edu
authors.forename: Kathleen C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Morrissey
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McLaurin
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013070:Speech Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*