Supporting Immigrant Families in Special Education: Insights and Collaborative Strategies for School-Based ABA...

Immigrant families of neurodivergent children face unique challenges when receiving special education services in the United States (U.S.). As a result, practitioners who provide services based on applied behavior analysis (ABA) in school settings should learn how to collaborate with and support immigrant families to improve their child's educational and behavioral outcomes. The purpose of the present paper was to provide a preliminary framework for school-based ABA practitioners to support immigrant families of neurodivergent children within the school setting. First, we discussed the barriers that immigrant families of neurodivergent children face in accessing special education services in the U.S., based on a review of qualitative studies. Second, we introduced an adapted version of Epstein (2010) collaborative framework to provide a supportive framework for school-based ABA practitioners working with immigrant families of neurodivergent children. Finally, we provided recommendations, along with a call to action for school-based ABA practitioners and ABA organizations, to improve the quality of life of immigrant families of neurodivergent children.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40617-025-01041-4.