For parents

Introduction

We are a team of researchers from UCL and the Institute of Education. We would like to invite your child to participate in our study. You should only volunteer for your child to participate if you want to - choosing not to take part will not disadvantage you in any way.

Before you decide whether you wish to be involved, it is important to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish. Please would you explain the research to your child and talk over whether they want to participate. I will also ask the children during sessions if they are happy to take part.

The purpose of the research

This study aims to increase our understanding of word-finding difficulties and ways that we can help. Children who take part may be unable to name things, to express their feelings or to answer questions in the classroom. We want to know more about how and why this happens. We also want to compare different techniques to help children when they are learning new words.

This research is part of a larger project, which will also look at naming abilities in children whose language is developing more typically. At a later stage of the project, some children will be invited to take part in a one-to-one course of research speech and language therapy to see how they respond to the help we provide. We hope our findings will be useful for parents, school staff and speech and language therapists who are working to support children with word-finding difficulties.

Where will the research be done?

Sessions will take place in a quiet room in your child’s school.

What does the study involve?

Children will be assessed individually on naming and word-knowledge tasks that will be presented in the form of games. For example, your child will see pictures of objects (e.g. a cat, an anchor) on a computer screen. He/she will be asked if they know what the object is called and, if so, to say the name out loud. The answers will be written down and video-recorded.

What will happen with the data and results of the study?

This study has been ethically reviewed and received ethics clearance from the University College London and Institute of Education Research Committees (UCL project ID number 2981/001). Only the investigators working on the word-finding project will have access to the data collected from this study.

Once we have finished our research, we will produce a written summary for participants and for the school, if you consent. We would also like to publish our findings in professional articles, talks and on our website. However, we will not use the real names of anyone taking part. Instead, your child will be given false initials. When we label their tapes or publish any information about the project, we will use these false initials, never their real name.

Data Protection

All video recordings and assessment forms will be kept safe in a locked filing cabinet at UCL or IoE. All other information, e.g. results from computer-based tasks, will be stored in a password-protected electronic database. All data will be collected and stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Please note: The information we collect about your child may be audited by UCL to check that the research is being conducted properly. We will ask you to sign a separate consent form to show that you agree with how we will keep and use recordings of your child.

What do I do now?

It is up to you to decide whether to take part or not. If you decide to allow your child to participate, you are still free to withdraw at any time without giving a reason. If you decide to take part, we will ask you to sign three consent forms. You will be given this information sheet to keep.

Taking part in the research should not put you or your child under any risks and you will be offered a copy of the final report should you wish to have one. If you have any questions about the study, please do not hesitate to contact us, or you can talk to your child’s teacher.

We very much hope that you and your child will take part in this research.