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Active, Not Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT04988451

Family ASL: Longitudinal Study of Deaf Children and Hearing Parents Who Receive Services to Support the Learning of ASL

This study examines the development of American Sign Language by deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children and their parents.

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

Key information

Conditions

Deafness Behavior Communication Ear Diseases Hearing Disorders Hearing Loss Language Manual Communication Nervous System Diseases Neurologic Manifestations Nonverbal Communication Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Sensation Disorders Sign Language Signs and Symptoms

Age range

2 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Connecticut - Department of Linguistics

Storrs, Connecticut, 06268, United States

About this study

After being informed about the study and potential risks, adult participants who give written informed consent and children whose parents who give written permission will be enrolled in the study. They will participate in preliminary language tasks to assess baseline performance on American Sign Language (ASL) measures. Subsequently they will have weekly sessions with an ASL Specialist to support their development of ASL, following a 6-week on/6-week off ABABABAB sequence.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Children:

  • Children ages 2;00 - 2;11 at the start of the longitudinal project
  • Child is Deaf/ Hard-of-Hearing
  • Participating in a program utilizing a bimodal bilingual philosophy

Adults:

  • One adult caregiver for each child

Exclusion criteria

  • Children with previously-diagnosed conditions other than deafness known to affect language and cognitive development
  • Families without access to internet (at home or other locations)

Treatment and study plan

ASL Services

Behavioral

ASL specialist meets with participants and provides ASL instruction

Primary outcomes

  1. Change from Baseline in ASL Phonological Production Accuracy over 12 Months

    Time frame: Baseline and 12 months

    Participants copy ASL signs produced on video; their productions are scored for phonological accuracy and reported as percent correct out of all possible phonological features. Weekly measures are taken for SCD analysis.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change from Baseline in ASL Production Frequency over 12 Months

    Time frame: Baseline and 12 months

    Participants engage in naturalistic play sessions which are videorecorded. Sessions are analyzed for the number of productions in ASL over a 15-minute period. Weekly measures are taken for SCD analysis.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Connecticut

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

Registry information

Official study title

Family ASL: Longitudinal Study of Deaf Children and Hearing Parents Who Receive Services to Support the Learning of American Sign Language (ASL)

Acronym: FASL

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2025
Study completion
2025
First posted
Aug 3, 2021
Registry last updated
Jul 11, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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