Evidence-Based Toolkit: Clinical Pathway for High-Functioning Autistic Adults in Rural Areas

Adults with high-functioning autism are often not diagnosed and consequently experience poor outcomes, particularly in rural areas. The literature provides clear support that providers of care often have little understanding of this condition and fail to recognize key symptoms that would suggest the need for referral. Research also indicates that interventions directed at providers of care, patients, and patients’ families can lead to enhanced outcomes for patients, as well as increased confidence levels for providers of care in recognizing symptoms in patients. The purpose of this project was to develop a preliminary screening tool, a clinical pathway, and a resource repository that can be used by providers and ultimately patients and their families. These were based on the extant literature, and providers of care received education and support for their use. Pre- and post-surveys were used to evaluate the providers of care confidence and knowledge levels, their use of tools and resources, and their self-reported number of testing referrals, before and after education and support was provided. Results indicated that education and provision of a toolkit with resources increases providers of care knowledge and confidence levels in caring for adults with high-functioning autism. Limited results related to use of assessment tools and referrals indicated there was no increase in use of assessment tools or numbers of referrals made for diagnostic testing had occurred. Recommendations include requiring education for providers of care, sustaining change through use of champions within the organization, and shifting language away from high- and low-functioning to avoid confusion.