Parents
Visit the Speech Disfluency Lab to participate in stuttering research.
Here is a look at what our lab is doing:
Thank you for your interest in the Speech Disfluency Laboratory! We are currently working on a project examining early childhood cognition and language development in children who do and do not stutter. If you have a child who stutters (or one you think might stutter) or one who is normally-fluent (a child who does not stutter), then your child is eligible to participate in our study if he or she:
is between the ages of 3 to 5 years and 11 months old,
is a native speaker of American English,
has no known or suspected speech, hearing, or language problems (other than stuttering) or other physical/mental disabilities.
All children who qualify for participation will receive FREE speech, language, and hearing testing, which gives you an opportunity to see how your child's speech and language development compares to other children his/her age. Children who are suspected of stuttering will also receive a FREE assessment of their stuttering, including a thorough examination of their speech behaviors to determine the presence and significance of the problem, as well as treatment recommendations (if indicated). All participants will be financially compensated for their time in the amount of $25.00 after all tasks have been completed.
The project is mainly housed in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Indiana University in Bloomington, but we also see select participants at Riley Research in Indianapolis.
Here is what you can expect when visiting our research site in Bloomington (see below for Indianapolis):
You and your child will visit our laboratory in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences on two separate occasions. We typically see children in the summer on Wednesdays at 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 4:00 pm, and some Fridays at 11:00 am and 1:00 pm. If none of these days/times work for you, please let us know, as we can make alternate arrangements. Once the visits have been arranged, we will send you a letter with a map and directions to our lab via email. We will call you 1-2 days prior to your visit to remind you of the appointment.
Once you arrive at our building, you will need to obtain a parking permit from the front desk in the clinic waiting room, which is just inside the main entrance. This permit will allow you to park in front of the building. Shortly after you arrive, a research assistant will meet you and your child in the waiting room to escort you to our lab.
Prior to beginning the study, you will be given a consent form to read and sign, while your child has the opportunity to warm-up to the lab environment and meet our lab members. The consent form will give you information about our study and the procedures we will be using during the visit. We will then answer any questions you may have about our study.
The first session will begin with you and your child seated at a table with some toys. As you interact with your child, we will examine his/her speech fluency in an adjacent room using video cameras. After the interaction, your child will be asked to respond to several routine tests of speech and language. While he/she is doing that, we will ask you some questions about your child's development. While talking with us, you will be able to observe all of your child's testing from a tv monitor. At the end of the first session, which will take about 1 to 1½ hours, we will screen your child's hearing.
During the second session, your child will complete several tasks on the computer where he/she responds to sounds, words, or pictures by pressing a button or repeating what he/she hears. You will be able to watch your child complete the tasks through the tv monitor. Upon completion of the tasks, we will go over the results of all of the testing with you and give you a copy of the testing summary sheet for your records. If indicated, we will also address any concerns you may have about your child's speech and language development. This second session takes about 1 to 1½ hours to complete.
At various intervals throughout the testing, your child may be rewarded with stickers, and, at the end of the second session, he/she will be allowed to choose, with parent permission, a small toy from a prize box. Children who visit our lab typically enjoy themselves because of all the attention they receive during testing and they get to play with toys, as well as earn stickers and prizes!
The conversation and computer tasks will be video-taped for research purposes only and stored in a locked cabinet. You and your child's participation in this study are completely voluntary. If you choose not to participate or to withdraw from the study at any time, there will be no penalty. Also, the results of the research may be published, but your name and your child's name will not be used.
Here is what you can expect when visiting our research site in Indianapolis:
If you are the parent/guardian of a child who stutters (or one suspected of stuttering) and you live in or near Indianapolis, you may wish to participate at our site in Indianapolis, which is housed in Riley Hospital for Children (click to see a map). We see children in Indianapolis on Fridays between the hours of 11:00 am and 5:00 pm. Once the visits have been scheduled, we will send you a letter with a map and information about where to park (if traveling by car) and where to meet us. The study procedures are otherwise the same as those in Bloomington (see above).
