Research Update

Well, I am a little over four weeks into my research study and I have already experienced several obstacles. The first obstacle that I came across was not being able to find the four to six participants that I was hoping for. Finding participants on an island is one thing, finding participants that are between one and three years old with an autism diagnosis and whose parents are willing to let their child participate in a research study is a entirely different feat. By the end of the first week of the study I only had two participants and by the end of the second week I was contacted by a third. So I have had to settle for only three participants (two assigned to Sign Language and one to PECS).

The second obstacle that I have run into is that when working with toddlers you have to prepare for cancelations due to illness, nap times, and parents forgetting about your appointment time. With a full time job and going to school full time, the cancelation of an appointment is extremely difficult to reschedule. I have had to plan WAY ahead in order to ensure that if there is a cancelation that I am able to create an opening to reschedule.

Even with these obstacles, I am finding this research study to be an eye-opening experience. I am already seeing a difference in the chosen interventions and which intervention is showing more language acquisition!