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Research study: Assessment tools for emotional distress in children with learning disabilities

A high proportion of children with learning disabilities experience emotional distress. Researchers from the Cerebra Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Birmingham, along with Aston and Coventry Universities, have received funding from Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charitable Foundation to develop improved assessment tools to detect distress in children with learning disabilities.

The research team are hoping to recruit 400 parents and carers of children with learning disabilities to complete an online questionnaire study. It is hoped that this study will lead to the development of better tools for use in health settings for the detection of signs of distress.

The questionnaire takes approximately 1 hour to complete and families will receive a £5 voucher for their participation. Please note: all families who have previously taken part will be contacted soon about receiving their voucher.

They are looking for UK families only - parents/carers of CdLS people aged 4 or over.

How can families become involved?

If you would like to learn more about what is involved in the study and register your interest, you can do this by emailing Dr Joanne Tarver at j.tarver@aston.ac.uk  

We will give you a link to a website where you can read more about the study and complete the consent forms online. Due to current restrictions, we are unable to send out paper copies of information sheets or questionnaire packs. If you would prefer a paper copy, please let us know and we will send one out as soon as we are able.

Registering an interest does not commit you to taking part. You will have a chance to make your decision about getting involved once you have read the information sheets.

Meet the research team:

This research is being led by Dr Jane Waite and Prof Chris Oliver. The research team are shown below!

Dr Jane Waite	Prof Chris Oliver	Dr Lucy Wilde	Dr Hayley Crawford

Dr Joanne Tarver	Dr Jo Moss	Ms Georgina Edwards

Thank you very much for your interest in our work!