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PERCEPTION AND MOTOR COGNITION UCD
Researchers
Dr Áine Ní Chosidealbha, University College Dublin (UCD), Dr Nuala Brady, UCD, and Ruth McDaid, UCD
Who Can Participate?
Parents and guardians of infants and toddlers between the ages of six and sixteen months are invited to take part by sending us a video or videos you have recorded of your little one. This is an online study but you will need to be logged in to Google Drive to upload your videos for us. This may be via a Gmail account or a university or work account that is linked to a Google Workspace or Suite (e.g. an @ucd.ie or @ucdconnect.ie account).
Location
If you have access to the internet, you can take part from home at a time that suits you. We are seeking videos of babies and toddlers taken in their own homes, videos which show them reaching for, holding, and using the objects and toys around them. Read on to find out how to participate.
Description
We are researchers in the School of Psychology studying how infants use their hands. We are taking a Citizen Science approach to this topic, as we know that parents of babies and toddlers may already have lots of videos of their children on their phones, videos which are scientifically valuable! If you are the parent of a child between six and sixteen months of age (or have saved videos of your child when they were in this age range), we would be delighted if you shared your videos with us. We are specifically looking for videos in which babies and toddlers are using their hands, for example playing with toys or feeding themselves.
We have a couple of guidelines for videos. The best videos for our purposes will have the following features:
(1) there will be just one baby in the video, and the video will have been filmed in your home (sadly we cannot accept videos with more than one baby, or videos filmed in a public place).
(2) the baby will be in the centre of the screen, facing the camera
(3) the baby will have at least two objects around them, that they can reach (or try to reach). These could be toys, household objects, or anything else your baby could touch or hold.
You do not need to film anything new for us but you are welcome to film something according to these guidelines if you like. Videos can be of any length but we suggest that they are no longer than 30 seconds because bigger files take a long time to upload.
Parents must be over 18 to participate. After you read the information sheet you can click "Next" at the bottom of the page to agree to take part in the research and to answer a few questions about you and your child. We will ask for your email address so we can send you a link to another form where you can upload between one and three videos of your child.
If you are interested in finding out more about this research or would like to participate in this study, please click here.
Contact
Áine Ní Choisdealbha, aine.nichoisdealbha@ucd.ie, or Nuala Brady, nuala.brady@ucd.ie
Researchers
Dr Nuala Brady, University College Dublin (UCD), and Madeleine Diepman, UCD.
Who Can Participate?
Parents and guardians of autistic children/ young people and parents and guardians of non-autistic (neurotypical) children/ young people between the ages of 4 and 17 years inclusive. Participants can be based anywhere (this is an online study) but must have a good understanding of reading/ completing forms in English.
Location
This is an online study; see Description below to find out how to participate.
Description
The research invites parents and guardians of autistic and non-autistic children to answer an online questionnaire regarding their child’s sensory experiences. This questionnaire consists of four scales that look at children’s:
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1. sensory responses (to light, sound, touch, texture etc.)
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2. communication,
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3. social interaction styles, and -
4. how they experience and express their emotions.
The study is a once-off, online questionnaire and should take no longer than 30 minutes to complete.
Although differences in how autistic people experience sensory information have been recognized for a long time, how these everyday experiences relate to and may impact other aspects of how people experience the world (via social interactions, emotional responses etc.) is still poorly understood.
To participate in this research, we ask that parents/guardians answer the questionnaire in relation to their child who does or does not have a clinical diagnosis of autism. The child must be aged between 4-17 years (inclusive), and the parent/ guardian must have proficient English (as the questionnaire is in English). This study is completely anonymous and has received ethical approval from the UCD Ethics Committee.
We have asked a number of autistic individuals here in Ireland about their language preferences. Based on their feedback, we have decided to use terms such as “autistic individual” rather than “individual with autism” in advertising this research study. However, we understand that different individuals and communities have their preferences and encourage you to use wording that best suits you.
If you are interested in finding out more about this research or would like to participate in this study, please click here.
Contact
Nuala Brady, nuala.brady@ucd.ie, or Madeleine Diepman, madeleine.diepman@ucdconnect.ie
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