Focus Groups

Silver City, Clovis, Albuquerque, Gallup. Contact Person: Gay Finlayson 272-1046

Suggested Questions for the ACMS Parent Focus Groups to be held

October, 2003

Purpose of the focus groups: To identify the extent to which healthcare services in your community support children with autism and their families.

Opening question

(Designed to establish common ground and to encourage all participants to talk early on)

• Tell us your name, the name of your child with autism, and one thing you would like us to know about your child.

Introductory question

(Typically an open-ended question allowing participants to say how they see or understand the core issue)

• When you hear the phrase "services for children with autism in New Mexico" what comes to mind?

Key questions

(4-6 questions for a 90+ minutes session, which will include probes or follow-ups by the moderator)

• What was your experience getting outside help when you first felt your child might be behaving differently from other children?

Probes: Where did you go to first? Where were you referred? Did you feel that your MD knew where to refer you? Did you know about the CDD clinic? What have been the problems for you in getting a diagnosis?

• How would you describe the role of Healthcare Services in helping your child?

Probes: Did your Healthcare provider appear to have a treatment plan readily available? Has reimbursement been a problem? Is it easier to get reimbursement for some parts of the service than others?

• What do you see as your child's most important needs? Are these being met at present?

Probes: Do they get therapy services - such as S-L-P, occupational, etc.? Could you describe something in terms of service or treatment that has really worked for your child? What gets in the way of your child receiving the help you feel he or she needs?

• How do the various agencies, such as educators, therapists, your care coordinator, MD and so on - how do they work together in helping your child?

• How do you see your child's needs changing in the future in relation to his/her healthcare needs?

Probe: What aspects cause you most worry?