Mothers with Infants Invited to Participate in Two Autism Studies at UConn

Researchers at the University of Connecticut are looking for pregnant mothers and mothers with infants to participate in two research initiatives that will follow the development of infant siblings of children with autism over the first two years of life, according to a statement.
The studies are being conducted by Deborah Fein, "a UConn Board of Trustees distinguished professor of psychology and nationally-recognized leader in autism research, and Anjana Bhat, an assistant professor in UConn’s Neag School of Education who studies developmental disorders in infants and children," the statement said.

The UConn IRB has approved these studies, Protocol #s: H08-234 and H08-111.

Who Can Participate
• Younger siblings of children with autism between 16 and 30 months of age may be eligible to participate in the Early Detection Sibling Study.
• Infant siblings of children with autism between 3 and 12 months of age may be eligible to participate in the Infant Learning Study and may continue to participate in the Early Detection Sibling Study after 16 months of age.
What the Early Detection Sibling Study Involves
• Professor and her research team are studying the use of a developmental screener to see how well it works with younger siblings of children with an autism spectrum disorder.
• Parents of eligible younger siblings will complete developmental questionnaires for their younger child when he/she is aged 18 months and 24 months. Parents will also be asked to complete a behavioral questionnaire for their older child.
• Some families will be given a follow-up phone interview and asked to come to the University of Connecticut-Storrs to receive a free developmental and diagnostic evaluation.
What the Infant Learning Study Involves
• You and your infant will visit Assistant Professor Bhat’s lab twice or someone from the lab will visit your home twice when your infant is 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 months for a total of 10 visits. Each visit lasts 1-1.5 hours.
• You and your infant will participate in a number of play-oriented, structured activities.
• You will receive a few questionnaires to follow-up on your child’s development when your child is 18 and 24 months. A researcher may also conduct a phone interview to confirm your responses.
How You Can Help
You can help by volunteering for the studies. If you have questions on the Early Detection Sibling Study, please call the study office at (860) 486-5767.
If you have questions on the Infant Learning Study, please call the Infant Development Lab at (860) 486-0019 or email to anjana.bhat@uconn.edu

Editor's note: All information in this post was contributed. It is unedited here.