EMERGE: Early Markers of Expressive and Receptive (language) Growth in Ethnically diverse autistic toddlers (Age 18 – 30 months)
PI: Connie Kasari, PhD
Eligibility:
Your child is currently:
- 18-21 months of age
- Has no functional words
- Has an autism diagnosis OR has a developmental delay and screens positive for autism
Purpose:
The study aims to track language growth in low-income children with autism who are nonverbal between 18 and 30 months of age. The results will help identify which children, based on changes in brain development, language, or a combination of both, are linked to specific language development trajectories during a period and within a population where we currently have limited information.
Involvement:
- This study will be done at your home.
- The study will help examine the language development window for children with autism using neural and behavioral measures at three time points: 18-21 months of age; 24-27 months of age; and 30-33 months of age. Each time point will require around 9 hours.
- The measures collected include demographic, medical history, and home environment questionnaires, wearing a vest to record language (LENA), EEG, a parent interview (Vineland), behavioral assessments, and a diagnostic assessment (only at 18-21 months and 30-33 months).
Benefits:
Participating in this study will help advance scientific knowledge. This study will be the first to collect simultaneous social communication, language, sensory, motor development, and neural activity (via remote EEG) measures in the homes of families who have typically not been engaged in research studies.
Contact:
310-983-1057
cogarcia@mednet.ucla.edu
