Human Research Coordination

We invite you and your child with autism to participate in a safe, interactive, and musically engaging research project run by University of Delaware faculty and students in collaboration with Autism Delaware. Inspired by Autism Delaware’s mission — “that all people with autism have opportunities to learn, grow, and live full lives as included and valued members of their communities” — the focus of our research is to create arrangements of children’s songs that promote engaged music listening by children with autism. These arrangements are intended to empower such children to listen with pleasure, attention, and participation (e.g. singing along), and to thus gain access to a formative cultural experience shared by many children. The arrangements composed by music students and faculty at the University of Delaware are designed specifically for children with autism, and future compositions and technology innovations will benefit from you and your child’s input.

Research participants (one parent-child pair) will complete a single short survey providing introductory information and availability. Based on this availability, a meeting will be arranged at the Rt. 9 Library and Innovation Center (New Castle, DE) multi-sensory room. During this 60–90 min. session, the child will be introduced to the multi-sensory room and music-listening device, and then have the opportunity to listen to interactive children’s songs on a prototype music-listening device. Following the session, both parent and child will be asked to complete a short semi-structured interview about the experience. Following the completion of the visit, you will receive a $50 Amazon Digital Gift Card (sent by email) as compensation. In addition, participants whose home is more than 5 miles from the Rt. 9 Library will receive additional compensation for mileage and travel time

We are recruiting adult and child pairs. Child participants must be between 4–12 years of age, accompanied by one adult parent or legal guardian, and must not be hearing impaired.

To volunteer you and your child as participants in this study, please complete the following eligibility questionnaire:
https://tinyurl.com/MusicforListenerswithASD