VUMC researchers are recruiting children between 18 months and 6 years old for a research study to help us learn more about how children hear.
For this study, the researchers are looking for children with a diagnosed delay that impacts at least one area of development: cognitive, motor, communication, or social and emotional. This may include children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Down syndrome, or other developmental delay.
During this study, your child will sit in a sound-proof room with an examiner and will listen to sounds presented over a loudspeaker or over earphones. To find out what your child can hear, we will teach him/her to make a response to a certain sound signal. These responses will be play activities like putting a toy in a bucket or pushing a button. The sounds are not loud.
You will be able to sit inside the booth with your child or watch your child through an observation window. You will be asked to fill out questionnaries about your child’s development. Your child may play games that measure his/her developmental abilities. Your child will receive a middle ear screening. We will communicate with you any screening results that identifies your child as at risk for having reduced hearing abilities or delays in their development. There are two required visits to the laboratory. Each visit lasts about 1 hour.
You will receive $20/h in the form of a gift card. If you drive more than 40 miles (one-way) to the laboratory, you will also receive a $25 gift card for each visit.
If you are interested, please email childhear@vumc.org or call 615-875-9056. The principal investigator for this research study is Angela Yarnell Bonino, PhD, in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. All testing will be completed in Medical Center East (1215 21st Avenue South).
