About Our Research

We are a collaborative research team from New York University and Emerson College, guided by an Advisory Board of autistic individuals who provide input on critical research questions, study goals and design. We study child language development and are interested in autistic and nonautistic parents and their play interactions with their autistic and nonautistic children.

What is the study about?

Our research is designed to help us learn about language development in young children.

Because parents and other caregivers play an important role in children’s language learning, we are also interested in how caregivers talk to and interact with children.

By learning more about these processes, we may be able to contribute to a better understanding of language development and impairment and the design of more effective intervention programs and therapies to support language learning.

Hear more about our previous projects on this podcast.

Who can participate?

We will be looking for autistic and nonautistic children and their autistic and nonautistic caregivers who are able to meet remotely on Zoom to participate in our study.

What is involved?

If you give permission for your child to participate in this study, your child will be asked to play some games and interact with your child at home while we observe over web camera on your computer via Zoom videoconferencing. You will be with your child the entire time. The remote study is schedule for approximately 2 hours.

The study also involves online surveys that can be completed by you from any location on a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer. These surveys will focus on your child’s demographics, daily activities, and language use, and will take up to 30 minutes to complete.

As a token of appreciation for participating in the study, you will receive an Amazon gift card.

If you are interested in participating, please complete this contact form and we will reach out to you when enrollment is opened.

If you have any questions, please email us at learnlab@nyu.edu.

Thank you for your interest in our work—we hope to hear from you soon!