Two Year Study (7 year olds)

We are psychologists at Yale University and Haskins Laboratories, and we study how skilled and less-skilled readers read in order to better understand the causes and treatments for reading disability. We are looking for children that are 7 years old with varying levels of reading achievement, especially those who are very good readers and those who are struggling with reading.

If you and your child decide to participate, your child will come to our Center (near the Yale campus in New Haven, CT) for an assessment visit. The first visit would determine your child’s eligibility for participation in the research project. During this session, children will be given a short reading skills assessment and will receive $20 for their participation. In addition, all parents, regardless of the assessment outcome, will receive a special “Reading Resources” information packet prepared by reading specialists and experts. The packet provides current information about reading and some ideas to help children who have a hard time reading.

Based on the outcome of the assessment visit, a group of children who meet more specific requirements for eligibility will be invited to participate in a more extensive research project. This project would require several more visits to our Center over the course of two years during which your child would also complete a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan as well as a magnetic resonance spectroscopy scan (MRS) and a blood draw. During the scans, your child would read some words while we took “pictures” of his/her brain so that we could see what parts of his/her brain are used for reading. Your child would receive an additional $20 for completing the first set of testing, $40 for each additional testing day every twelve months and $50 for completing each fMRI and MRS scan.

If your child does participate, we will provide you with a summary report of the results of all standardized assessments that we administer to your child. While this research may not directly benefit your child, it could help us to better understand reading and reading disabilities and so could help other children in the future. There are no known risks to participants in the fMRI, MRS or any other aspects of the research project. Your child would be free to withdraw from the study at anytime for any reason, with no adverse effects on the relations you and your child have with our staff or your child’s school. All information obtained from you and your child would be kept strictly confidential for the duration of the project and thereafter.

If you and your child are interested in participating in this research study, or for more information about the study, please contact the Yale Reading Center at 203-764-6752.

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