This study is important because a child’s own actions influence input from their environment, input that shapes their learning and development. This is a dynamic process, where small initial individual differences in the child’s actions compound to set the child on a drastically different developmental trajectory, aspects of the child (e.g. motor development) and of the child’s environment (e.g. parental responsiveness) influence learning opportunities in real-time. Thus it is crucial to examine differences in learning processes at the group and the individual level within dynamic environments.
What are the goals of the study?
The goal of this study is is to capture how young children view their everyday environments. To accomplish this goal, young children (ages 24-72 months) with ASD, Down Syndrome, and typically developing children and their parent will wear head-mounted cameras at home during typical daily routines. Videos will be coded for the presence of people and objects in their visual field as well as responses to people and situations (e.g. child directed speech and meal times).
What will happen during the visit or online?
After participants pass the pre-screen and intake call, participants will be asked to partake in pre-post questionnaires and an up to hour long at-home recording.
How will this help families?
Once influential differences are identified, changes in these differences could then be translated for use as outcome measures.