Editorial: Relational Diagnosis—An Idea Whose Time Has Come

In Search of Culturally Appropriate Autism Interventions: Perspectives of Latino Caregivers

“…In order to best serve these families, providers could help connect families with local Spanish-speaking support groups, or provide family support with extended family members in a group model. Following collaboration with community members, two parent-mediated ASD interventions designed specifically for Latino families have incorporated the value of family relationships, familismo , in their interventions (Buzhardt et al, 2015; Magaña et al, 2015).…”

“…Language barriers have also been raised as difficulties in other studies of Latino families (Blanche et al, 2015). To meet this need for relationship building, several behavioral interventions adapted for Latino families have incorporated specific relationship building strategies, including using bilingual and culturally Latino staff to carry out intervention sessions, or building time for small talk into sessions (Borrego, Anhalt, Terao, Vargas, & Urquiza, 2006; Buzhardt et al, 2015; Magaña et al, 2015; Parra Cardona et al, 2012). The lack of racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity in service providers is an issue facing many clinical fields.…”

“…Finally, survey instruments used here were translated by test creators and not re-tested for reliability and validity on a large sample of LSS individuals, as is suggested when using an instrument with a new population (Beaton, Bombardier, Guillemin, & Ferraz, 2000). The FOS-R had been used previously in the literature with an LSS sample (Magaña et al, 2015), however the MPOC-20 had not. Although high internal consistency was achieved within this sample, it is possible that these were not reliable or valid instruments for use with our LSS participants.…”

“…Scores range from 1–5 with higher scores indicating higher satisfaction. The FOS-R has good internal consistency in English (subscales ranging.73–.95 for Cronbach’s alpha; Bailey et al, 2011), as well as in Spanish (.62–.94 on subscales in the family outcomes section; Magaña et al, 2015). The FOS-R was administered to quantitative participants only, with an overall Cronbach’s alpha of .95 for the LSS participants and .94 for the NLW participants.…”

“…While language is a major barrier, merely delivering an established intervention in Spanish may not sufficiently improve cultural congruence for Latinos in the United States (Buzhardt et al, 2015; Castro et al, 2010). Deep, foundational adaptations that make the components of intervention congruent with a culture’s perceptions, values, and experiences may be necessary (Castro et al, 2010; Magaña, Lopez, & Machalicek, 2015). Unfortunately, the evidence-based interventions that Latino children receive may not be congruent with their cultural values, as Latino children have largely been ignored in ASD intervention research (Lopez, 2014).…”