WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME? NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER CARE ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA

Individuals seeking healthcare in rural America experience a simplified model of treatment in comparison to their metropolitan counterparts. When met with various ailments, rural residents turn to their primary care physicians for answers whereas those in medically dense regions are offered specialty care. When it comes to caring for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, accessing services to help manage a disorder’s trajectory can pose a significant burden. Be it a child with autism needing behavior therapy or a child with a learning disorder needing accommodations at school, insufficient resources can have a direct impact on the affected individual’s quality of life. I will investigate this issue throughout rural parts of North Carolina, seeking to demand the matter be provided the sense of urgency and attentiveness the disorders require. I will compile an anthology comprising of three long-form journalism pieces to examine the issue from a multi-lens perspective. I will approach my research in the following steps: 1) I will seek to understand what receiving a diagnosis means for families who are a. currently undergoing the process or b. who have recently undergone the process; 2) I will spend time with a young adult who was either a) misdiagnosed or b) diagnosed later in life in an attempt to understand what life is like for an individual when the key intervention period is missed; and 3) I will seek to learn the role rural environments play in improving or amplifying the challenges affected individuals face.Master of Art