Current Research Studies

If you have a son or daughter with Down syndrome or other intellectual disabilities 15 to 25 years of age, you and your child are invited to participate in a research study being conducted by Dr. Leonard Abbeduto at the Laboratory on Language Development in Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the MIND Institute, University of California, Davis and Dr. Fran Conners at the University of Alabama.

This study will be looking at memory, language, and everyday skills in young adults with Down syndrome and/or adults with other intellectual disabilities and how they change over time.

If you decide that you and your son or daughter would like to be in this study, we will ask you to visit one of the study sites three times over a period of approximately 5 years. At each visit, participants will take part in activities measuring various skills including memory and language. Caregivers will be asked to complete questionnaires and participate in interviews about the participant.

If you have a son or daughter with Down syndrome ages 2-7, you and your child are invited to participate in a research study being conducted by Dr. Angela John Thurman at the Laboratory on Language Development in Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the MIND Institute, University of California, Davis and three other sites across the United States. Participants will also be seen at Colorado State University, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and the University of Louisville.

 The goal of this research study is to learn more about how samples of early communication and spoken language skills can be used to measure change over time in communication/spoken language, problem solving, and behavior in individuals with Down syndrome. In the future, it is possible that measures of early communication skills may be useful as one way to learn whether different medications or behavioral interventions can help individuals with Down syndrome learn to use language more effectively.

 If you are interested in participating in this study, you and your son or daughter will be asked to visit one of our study sites 3 times over a 1-year period. During these visits, your child will participate in a variety of activities to help us learn more about his or her communication skills and problem-solving abilities. Some of these activities will be more structured and some will be more play based. We will also conduct some interviews with you and ask you to fill out some questionnaires to learn more about your child.

If you have a son or daughter with Down syndrome ages 2-7, you and your child are invited to participate in a research study being conducted by Dr. Angela John Thurman at the Laboratory on Language Development in Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the MIND Institute, University of California, Davis and three other sites across the United States. Participants will also be seen at Colorado State University, Children's Hospital Colorado, and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

The goal of this study is to validate measures of early executive function tailored to young children with Down syndrome. Researchers are hopeful that these may be used as outcome measures for future treatments or interventions in this population.

If you are interested in participating in this study, you and your son or daughter will be asked to visit one of our study sites 4 times over a 1-year period. During these visits your child will participate in a variety of activities to help us learn more about his or her early cognitive development, including working memory and planning. We will also ask you to fill out some questionnaires to learn more about your child in his or her daily life.

Families will receive a $50 honorarium from a national retail store for each visit to the MIND Institute. Travel-related expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with UC Davis policies.