Parent Experiences and Perceptions of Safety When Transporting Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

IMPORTANCE: Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of unintentional deaths of children ages 1 and older, particularly children with health care needs. OBJECTIVE: To explore family caregivers' experiences and current practices while transporting children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). DESIGN: A concurrent nested mixed-methods approach was used to gain insight into caregiver experiences. SETTING: Participants completed an online Qualtrics survey. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of 54 caregivers of children with ASD from 17 U.S. states. RESULTS: Themes that emerged include sensory behaviors of children, education related to child passenger safety, and participation in the community. Statistically significant findings suggest a correlation between caregivers (n = 39) being less likely to participate in activities away from home if the child had attempted to elope (p = .013), displayed aggressive behaviors (p = .005), or demonstrated self-injurious behaviors (p = .001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The findings suggest a correlation between caregivers limiting the distance traveled during vehicular transportation and behavioral safety concerns. If caregivers must limit travel, they may refrain from accessing the community and engaging in leisure pursuits. What This Article Adds: The findings suggest that therapists who treat children with ASD should be familiar with child passenger safety restraints, particularly for elopement.

Engaging the community through a longitudinal, interprofessional, interinstitutional experiential learning collaboration.

Background Interprofessional education (IPE) and training in community settings is not commonly described in the literature. Studies primarily focus on clinical education of interprofessional teams in clinical practice and primary care. This is a description of a longitudinal, collaborative interinstitutional IPE project that engages community partners (CP) while delivering core IPE competencies. Interprofessional Education Activity: Twenty-seven students from five universities representing ten healthcare academic programs participated in the project. Participating CP were non-profit agencies developed to meet the needs of specific vulnerable, underserved populations. Students were divided into teams and then paired with CP. This was a six-month project, with students committing to 30 hours over two semesters. At the end of the project, students presented project deliverables to CP, faculty collaborative and other students. Interprofessional education collaborative (IPEC) domains were qualitatively assessed and students completed the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale (ISVS) at the beginning and conclusion of the project. Students provided written reflections at the conclusion of the project. Faculty completed the Team Observed Structured Clinical Encounter (TOSCE). Discussion" Twenty-seven students (100%) students completed the project and twenty-one students (77.8%) completed the evaluation tools. Students demonstrated a statistically significant difference between pre- and post-project ISVS total scores (5.81 +/- 0.64 vs. 6.51 +/- 0.37). Teamwork, communication skills, and increased comfort with those from other professions were common themes in the student reflections. Implications: Community-based IPE provides a venue for healthcare professionals to engage and partner with community organizations. This project demonstrates an effective inter-institutional, interprofessional method of delivering IPE.