Interventions & Supports

Early access to interventions and supports can help minimize the impact of developmental delays and help children and families flourish. However, many barriers impact the child’s and family’s access to evidence-based services. Within this area of research, we identify the evidence-based practices that are culturally and linguistically appropriate and develop programs that will support children with autism and developmental disabilities and their families.

​Read more about our research on interventions and supports for children and youth with autism and developmental disabilities and their families below.

ASPEN Intervention Program

(Ongoing Project)

The ASD Screening and Parent ENgagement (ASPEN) Program is a parent-mediated intervention program, that is, parents are trained to be the primary interventionist for their child. ASPEN focuses on naturalistic, developmental, and behavioral strategies. These are strategies that are easy to use in the child’s natural environment and are aligned with developmental and behavioral milestones.

​Status: Currently enrolling children (18 months – 6 years) who have autism or have developmental delays consistent with autism and their primary caregiver

Location: Children and their caregiver must reside in Texas

Funded by: National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (PI: Sandra B. Vanegas, PhD, University of Texas at Austin) 

Project Dates: September 30, 2019 – September 29, 2024

Project Website: https://www.aspenprogramtx.org/

For more information, contact: Sandra Vanegas, sandra.vanegas@austin.utexas.edu

PODER Familiar

(Ongoing Project)

Overweight and obesity are significant health conditions that impact the quality of life of children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In the PODER Familiar project, we are testing a culturally tailored intervention and support program for Latino families of children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This program will promote healthy behaviors and physical activity that can support the entire family. ​

Status: Currently enrolling Latino children (6 years – 17 years) with an intellectual or developmental disability and their maternal caregiver

Location: Child must reside in Texas or Illinois

Funded by: National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (PI: Sandy Magaña, PhD, MSW, University of Texas at Austin)

Project Dates: September 30, 2019 – September 29, 2024

Project Website: https://sites.utexas.edu/poder/

For more information, contact: Sandy Magaña, smagana@austin.utexas.edu

Related Presentations and Publications

* Denotes student author

​Presentations

  • Errisuriz, V., Magaña, S., Parra-Medina, D., Vanegas, S., Mirza, M., & Heydarian, N. (2023, November). Physical activity and accelerometer wear time compliance among a sample of Latino children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Paper to be presented at the American Public Health Association 2023 Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Vanegas, S. B., & Magaña, S. (2023, May). Caregiver use of naturalistic, developmental, and behavioral intervention strategies with children with autism in low resource households: A multi-method analysis. Poster presented at the International Society for Autism Research, Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Vanegas, S. B. & Magaña, S. (2023, April). Family empowerment among families of children with developmental disabilities in low-resource households. Paper presented at the National Association of Rehabilitation Research and Training Center annual meeting, Washington, DC.
  • Vanegas, S. B., *Davila, M., *Davila Valdes, J., *Hopp, L., *Le, C., & Magaña, S. (2023, April). Characterizing family empowerment among culturally diverse families of children with developmental disabilities in low-resource communities. Poster presented at the Gatlinburg Conference on Research and Theory in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Kansas City, MO.
  • Vanegas, S. B., & Magaña, S. (2022, November). Examining overweight and obesity among Latino children with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities in a national sample. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, Boston, MA.
  • Vanegas, S. B. (2022, May). Identifying disparities in mental health services among racial/ethnic minority children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Autism Research, Austin, TX.
  • Vanegas, S. B. (2021, November). Impact of social determinants of health on the physical health of Latino children with autism. Paper presented to the Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health Research Day, Washington DC.
  • Vanegas, S. B., & Magaña, S. (2021, November). Examining the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Latino children and youth with IDD. Poster presented the AUCD 2021 Conference, Washington DC.

Publications

  • Vanegas, S., & Magaña, S. (2023). Cultural and linguistic adaptation of the ASPEN intervention program in low-resource communities. KT Casebook, 11th edition. https://ktdrr.org/products/ktcasebook/cultural-lingusistic-adaptation-of-aspen-intervention.html
  • Magaña, S., Errisuriz, V. L., *Yu, A. P.-L., Heydarian, N., *Zeng, W., Mirza, M., Vanegas, S., Brown, S., Parra-Medina, D., & Suarez-Balcazar, Y. (2023). Associations between parenting strategies and BMI percentile among Latino children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 11. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2023.1189686
  • Vanegas, S. B., *Hopp, L., *Valdes, J. D., & Magaña, S. (2022). Evaluating outcomes within culturally diverse contexts for children and youth with developmental disabilities. International Review of Research in Developmental Disabilities, 62, 73-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.irrdd.2022.05.003
  • Vanegas, S. B., Dueñas, A., Kunze, M., & Xu, Y. (2022). Adapting parent-focused interventions for diverse caregivers of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Lessons learned during global crises. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12422
  • Magaña, S., Dababnah, S., Xu, Y., Garcia-Torres, M., Rieth, S. R., Corsello, C., Rangel, E., Brookman-Frazee, L., & Vanegas, S. B. (2021). Cultural adaptations of a parent training program for families of children with ASD/IDD: Parents Taking Action. International Review of Research in Developmental Disabilities, 61, 263-300. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.irrdd.2021.07.005
  • Suarez-Balcazar, Y., Mirza, M., Errisuriz, V. L., Zeng, W., Brown, J. P., Vanegas, S., Heydarian, N., Parra-Medina, D., Morales, P., Torres, H., & Magaña, S. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Latinx Caregivers of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(15). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18157971
  • Kuhn, J., Vanegas, S. B., Salgado, R., Borjas, S. K., Magaña, S., & DaWalt, L. S. (2020). The cultural adaptation of a transition program for Latino youth with ASD and their families. Family Process, 59, 477-491. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12439
  • Vanegas, S. B., & *Abdelrahim, R. (2016). Characterizing the systems of support for families of children with disabilities: A review of the literature. Journal of Family Social Work, 19, 286-327. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10522158.2016.1218399