What is the purpose of this study?

This project brings together developments in genetics, psychology and brain sciences, to find out how specific gene differences affect individuals with ID. We want to find out much more about how the brain develops and functions differently in individuals with ID, where a possible genetic cause has been found. We are also interested in creating new assessment methods, which are more appropriate for individuals with ID. In future, the information we gather might make it easier to support people with ID, because we will have a better understanding of which specific patterns of difficulty are associated with each cause.

What does participation in the study involve?

The project involves a research session at home, which lasts approximately three hours. A member of the project team will arrange to visit you at home or at another appropriate location, at a time that suits you and your family. There are three main parts to this home visit:

1. Parent Questionnaires and Medical History;
2. Cognitive Assessments;
3. Farm App.

Completing parent questionnaires give us a chance to find out more about your child’s health, learning and behaviour. We will also ask the participant and their carer(s) about their medical history. The participant will then be asked to complete some different cognitive assessements, which we try to make as fun as possible. We will always describe what we will be doing before starting and give clear instructions. The participant can take breaks or stop at any time. In conjunction with Ounce Technology (https://ouncetech.co.uk/projects/) we have also developed an iPad app which has three game-like tasks. We ask our participants to keep the iPad and play the games for a period of two weeks. This enables us to collect information about their attention, memory and learning over time.

If you and your family would like more information about the project please fill in your contact information below. Please note that by sending us a message you are under no obligation to take part.

MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit	Oxford University	Cambridge University
Dr Duncan Astle	Professor Gaia Scerif	Dr Kate Baker
Ms Sinead O’Brien	Ms Elise Ng-Cordell	Professor Lucy Raymond

You may have some questions and we would be very happy to discuss these with you. If you wish to discuss this study you can contact our research assistants using the details below:

Ms. Sinead O’Brien

Email: bingo@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk

TEL: 01223 273726

Ms Elise Ng-Cordell

Email: elise.ng-cordell@psy.ox.ac.uk

TEL: 01865 271382