Presenter: Esther Son, College of Staten Island and CUNY Graduate Center

This presentation aims to share the findings from a study investigating the mental health challenges that underserved neurodivergent children and young adults experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic in the NYC region in a specific cross-section of double-discrimination (i.e., being an Asian American and a neurodivergent). Previous research indicated that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and developmental disabilities (DD) have a co-occurring mental health disorder, and their mental health has worsened during the pandemic; however, many healthcare providers feel unprepared to serve children with complex co-occurring conditions. As such, this presentation will also explore the extent to which the mental health crisis among neurodivergent children and young adults and mental health crisis care services and systems for the population by reviewing the previous literature. 
A quantitative, exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory study using a survey was conducted to examine the impact of COVID-19 on Korean immigrant families of children and young adults with ASD/DD in the NYC region compared with their counterparts (N = 53) between August 2022 and December 2022. Convenience and snowball sampling were used to recruit participants collaborating with staff from community-based agencies and churches. Univariate and bivariate analyses were employed to summarize the prevalence of mental health conditions by socio-demographic factors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show the increased percentages of having mental health conditions among children and young adults with ASD/DD before and during the pandemic, indicating the urgent mental health care needs and call for access and care for the population.