Moving mountains: Systems change to improve services for Alaskan children who experience autism and other developmental disabilities

The Alaska LEND Without Walls (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities) aims to improve the health of infants, children and adolescents children who have, or are at risk for developing, autism and other developmental disabilities and their families by preparing professionals to assume interdisciplinary leadership roles. With funding from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources Services Administration, key program elements build on existing community services and maximize distance-delivered educational and service delivery resources. Faculty from nine core disciplines including public health, social work, psychology, special education, nursing, family, occupational therapy, medicine and speech language pathology mentor LEND Fellows during all aspects of the program. Key components include weekly seminars, clinical and field experiences focusing on family-centered care, and leadership research projects. Targeting systems change to strengthen academic and community partnerships to improve access to services statewide, especially in rural and frontier areas, the leadership research projects address a myriad of Alaska-based challenges. Selected examples of recent leadership research projects focus on the following topics: emergency preparedness for families with children who experience disabilities; family resiliency; the role of school psychologists in autism screening and identification; and a community needs assessment related to a summer camp for pre-school children with autism transitioning into kindergarten. The goal of the projects is to support a uniquely Alaskan model of interdisciplinary family-centered teams to build capacity to deliver evidence-based, culturally competent service delivery and to reduce health disparities among the diversity of populations across the vast landmass.