For Parents & Caregivers

How Our Studies Work

Our individualized, evidence-based practices support better communication and understanding for children and caregivers.

Early Intervention is a federally-funded home visiting program that provides support and services (e.g., speech therapy) to families of children under three-years-old with developmental disabilities or delays. The EIRG focuses on language and communication. Our goal is to find the most effective interventions for parents, children, and clinicians.  Additionally, we care about early access and helping children get identified sooner because intervening early in a child’s life can help them excel in years to come.

We are a group of clinicians (speech-language pathologists, developmental therapists, social workers, etc.), caregivers, community members, researchers, and students. Through federally funded research projects, we provide families and clinicians access to additional services and supports. We use this research to maximize family and child outcomes and improve early intervention systems.

May 18
First, you’ll complete an eligibility form to see if you and your child are eligible for the specific research study.
May 18

First, you’ll complete an eligibility form to see if you and your child are eligible for the specific research study.

May 19
If you’re eligible, the EIRG will reach out to you directly.
May 19

If you’re eligible, the EIRG will reach out to you directly.

May 20
You’ll review all the information about the study, including what is involved for you and your child and what happens with the information we collect.
May 20

You’ll review all the information about the study, including what is involved for you and your child and what happens with the information we collect.

May 21
If you’re interested in participating, you’ll sign a consent form so that you and your child can participate in the research study.
May 21

If you’re interested in participating, you’ll sign a consent form so that you and your child can participate in the research study.

May 22
The research team will work with you to complete all the necessary research activities, which could include surveys, clinical visits, or interviews.
May 22

The research team will work with you to complete all the necessary research activities, which could include surveys, clinical visits, or interviews.

May 23
Once the research project is completed and all enrolled families have participated, the research team will review the results of the study and prepare various resources for your family, the research community, and clinicians.
May 23

Once the research project is completed and all enrolled families have participated, the research team will review the results of the study and prepare various resources for your family, the research community, and clinicians.

What Participants are Saying

All I can say is thank you to this amazing team of therapists. This was life changing and for the first time in a while, I felt my child was seen for who he is all across the board. Please keep doing the amazing work you guys are doing and I know more families would benefit from this assessment and diagnostic evaluation.

Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) Study Participant

 

I appreciated that after I was informed, the evaluators took a step back and asked how I was feeling about the diagnosis. The evaluators made a point of noting our child’s strengths, as well as the strengths of our relationship, which was highly validating. I was extremely satisfied with our experience with the study.

Reduce The Wait Participant

The evaluators were amazing. They were very understanding, listened well to my concerns, and were respectful and nice. Their presence made it easy to open up about my daughter and her development.

Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) Study Participant

Ongoing Research

Explore Current Studies

Supporting Families in Early Intervention

Empower EI:  Comparing Early Intervention Approaches to Improve Communication in Toddlers with Developmental Delays

This study will help families access the information and resources they need to best support their child during early intervention. Results of this study will be informative to caregivers of children with developmental delays, early intervention therapists, service coordinators, and policy makers to maximize effectiveness of EI services and improve children’s long-term communication and health outcomes.

Learn More

Supporting Communication & Behavior

Sequencing Methods for Autism: A Randomized Trial (SMART)

This project examines how caregivers can learn social communication strategies, behavior regulation strategies or both sets of strategies to support autistic toddlers’ communication and behavior.

Learn More

Advancing Autism Diagnosis

The Reduce The Wait Project

The Reduce the Wait project is a federally funded research study that will provide autism evaluations to over 1,000 children enrolled in the Illinois Early Intervention (EI) program.

Our goal is to find new and quicker ways to diagnose autism in young children. We want to make the autism diagnostic process efficient, accurate, and supportive for families of children enrolled in EI.

Learn More

Changing Lives

Hear from an EIRG Parent