In the summer of 2015, I began an ethnography investigating the inequalities to autism diagnosis and service in metro Atlanta, GA. This project aims to investigate what individual, institutional, and structural barriers contribute to autism inequalities and how they interact with intersecting inequalities based on race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and gender. The project is a multi-sited ethnography designed to investigate four interlocking social processes: 1) clinical diagnosis; 2) special educational services; 3) social and cultural assistance; and 4) raising a child with autism. This project will trace unexpected social and structural formations across and within multiple sites of activity that will help contextualize and reveal the complex and intersecting mechanisms involved in shaping autism inequalities, which can inform the development of innovative intervention strategies.
In 2016, Dr. Singh received a $50,000 grant from the Center for Pediatric Research to conduct a quality of care survey and qualitative assessment of barriers to diagnosis and services offered by the Hughes Spalding Autism Clinic in Downtown Atlanta.
Visualizing Digital Autism Disparities in Metro Atlanta, GA (2020-21)
The purpose is to develop a digital-visual map of autism services in metropolitan Atlanta, GA that can be used to document and expose autism service disparities for research and educational purposes and a practical tool that care coordinators can use as they navigate services for underserved families. The project will consist of three phases.
The Social and Economic Impacts of COVID-19 among Black Families of Children with Autism
The proposed study aims to investigate the impacts of Covid-19 among low-income African American families who have a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It seeks to examine how social and economic factors, such as living in a single parent or multi-generation household, relying on public health insurance or public transportation, living below the poverty line, working in the service industry, or losing employment due to Covid-19, disproportionately affects African American children with ASD and their families. To answer these questions, researchers plan to conduct a survey and interview with 20 caregivers of a child with ASD who are living at or below the poverty line, Black and/or African American, and rely on public health insurance. Researchers will conduct a survey to measure disruptions in services, access to remote services, and a child’s and caregiver’s mental and emotional health.