Speech Genetics Study

We are seeking families in Delaware and closely surrounding areas of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey to participate in a research study on childhood speech disorders. Please read the following information about our study. Then, if you are interested in having your family participate, you can complete a short survey that will indicate if your family is eligible for the study. If your family meets the requirements for participation in the study, you can choose to contact us if you want to, or ask that we contact you to schedule a time for your family to visit the Speech Research Lab at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.

This research project is designed to study possible genetic factors in childhood speech disorders that have no other known causes such as deafness, cognitive delays, or physical malformation. The study will include families who have a child with a speech disorder who is between 5 and 9 years old during the course of our study and at least one biological parent. Each child participant will be administered several tests, including some that measure speech production and speech perception. We will collect saliva samples from all participating family members so that we can analyze DNA. In addition, each participating parent will be interviewed by a genetic counselor so that we may learn more about family history. In any case, family members will meet with the researchers before any testing begins so that the procedure can be completely explained and any outstanding questions may be answered. Testing will require two visits to our lab lasting about 1 to 2 hours each. Families who participate will receive compensation after completing all of the necessary interviews and testing.

Are you interested in filling out the survey to see if your family is eligible for participation?