Table 2.

Reported overall and met needs by Needs Surveys items (N = 143).

Section	Item	Neededa	Need metb
Information	How children grow and develop	40	60
	How to play or talk with my child	50	82
	How to teach my child	64	64
	How to handle my child’s behavior	77	62
	About ASD	65	82
	About services presently available for my child	82	52
	About services my child might receive in the future	79	22
Family and social support	Talking with someone in my family about concerns	60	71
	Having friends to talk to	71	70
	Finding more time to myself	74	42
	Helping my spouse accept that our child has ASD	43	52
	Helping our family discuss problems and reach solutions	53	43
	Helping our family support each other during difficult times	58	37
	Deciding who will do household chores, child care, and other family tasks	43	50
	Deciding on and doing family recreational activities	47	52
Financial	Paying for expenses such as food, housing, clothing, or transportation	38	57
	Getting special equipment	35	57
	Paying for therapy or day care	54	50
	Counseling or help getting a job	28	52
	Paying for respite care	60	76
	Paying for toys my child needs	30	58
Explaining to others	Explaining my child’s condition to my parents/spouse’s parents	31	64
	Explaining my child’s condition to siblings	35	46
	Knowing how to respond when friends, neighbors, strangers ask questions about my child	44	34
	Explaining my child’s condition to other children or peers	48	31
	Finding reading materials about other families who have a child like mine	51	42
Child care	Locating respite-care workers able to care for my child	57	32
	Locating a day-care program or preschool for my child	31	68
	Getting appropriate care for my child in a church/religious event	28	33
Professional support	Meeting with a minister, priest, rabbi, or other religious leader	17	67
	Meeting with a counselor	54	64
	More time to talk with my child’s teachers or therapists	53	55
	Community services	66	52
	Meeting and talking with other parents who have a child with ASD	66	58
	Locating a doctor who understands me and my child’s needs	66	59
	Locating a dentist who will see my child	58	63

ASD: autism spectrum disorder.

^aPercentage of total respondents who indicated area of need (“needed, already provided” + “needed, not provided”).

^bProportion (%) of previous column who responded “needed, already provided.”