Storybook Reading in Individuals With Down Syndrome

Stopped early · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Down Syndrome, Augmentative and Alternative Communication

In brief

This study uses mobile eye-tracking technology in order to characterize patterns of visual attention to communication supports, as well as a partner, within real world interactions for individuals with Down syndrome. Visual communication supports are central components of what is termed augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention. AAC refers to the methods and technology designed to supplement spoken communication for people with limited speech. "Aided" AAC is a subcategory in which an external aid stores and presents for use visual symbols such as photographs, line drawings, or alphabet letters. The most traditional means of structuring aided AAC displays is to present the language concepts within row-column grids, which contain individual symbols/concepts placed in each grid square. The investigator's previous work investigated whether these grid-based presentations could be improved by understanding how different perceptual features of the displays influence responding (i.e., whether what the display looks like influences how easily the information on it is found). Individuals with developmental disabilities and children developing typically were faster and more accurate in finding information on some displays over others, when tested using a "visual search" task (aka, a "finding game" - "find the dog"). The previous investigations have evaluated visual attention within a setting that isolated visual processing of the AAC display as the primary dependent measure. However, communication requires attention not only to an AAC display, but also to a communication partner. Therefore, the current study seeks to examine questions of visual attention to both an AAC display and a communication partner. The investigators will manipulate characteristics of the structure of the display (e.g., arrangement of symbols), in order to determine if more optimal displays facilitate desirable patterns of visual attention to both the communication display and the partner. The mobile eye-tracking technology captures attention to both the display and the communication partner. The investigators anticipate that participants will be able to attend to their partner and the shared activity more when the AAC display is more optimal, but that when the AAC display is sub-optimal, the participants will have to spend more time examining the AAC display and less time in actual communication.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT03764761

Run by

Penn State University

People needed

14

Starts

2018-04-01

Expected to finish

2021-11-30

Last updated by the study team

2022-04-29

Who can join

Age: 7 and older, up to 35. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Participants with Down syndrome who have receptive language age estimates between 3;0 -7;0 years as measures on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test- 4th Edition (PPVT-IV; Dunn \& Dunn, 2006) and chronological ages of 7 to 35 years.

You may not qualify if…

• We will exclude anyone outside the range of 7-35 years, inclusive. We will plan to exclude those having: (1) uncontrolled seizures; (2) sensory or peripheral impairment that might impair performance; (3) co-morbid illnesses with implications for central nervous system function.

Where it is running

• 11 Ford Building — University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.