Dear parent or guardian,
You are invited to participate in the research project noted above, which researchers from the University of Newcastle are conducting.
The research is part of Dimity Comino’s PhD studies at the University of Newcastle, supervised by Associate Professor Jill Duncan and Dr Laura Roche from the School of Education.
The information below provides more detail about the study and how you can participate if you choose to do so.
What is the research study about?Children who are deaf or hard of hearing with additional disabilities often face communicative challenges, resulting in the need for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems, e.g., PODD books, PECS, and apps such as Proloquo2go. There is currently little research on best assigning and implementing different types of AAC to these children to maximise their efficacy.
This research will investigate the perspectives of parents and professionals (speech therapists, educators, allied health assistants etc) working with five different case study children, to determine patterns and themes in the current practice of AAC implementation to provide insight into best practices. This research will be conducted via online surveys completed by parents and professionals working with the case study child.
Who is conducting the research?This research is being conducted by researchers from the University of Newcastle’s School of Education.
Who can participate in the research?Researchers aim to recruit five children enrolled in a primary special school in Queensland who are deaf or hard of hearing that use an individual AAC system as part of their communication. The research will invite each child's stakeholders (teachers, caregivers, and allied health practitioners) to complete an online survey regarding their individual perspectives.
Families may have been identified through external support services or organisations that provide intervention or support to their children who fit this inclusion criteria.
What does participation involve?If you agree to participate, your child does not directly participate in any activities or surveys.
You will be invited via email to complete the Caregiver Consent Form on the next page, followed by the Expression of Interest Survey. The Caregiver Expression of Interest Survey includes a set of basic demographic questions such as your child’s age, gender and level of hearing loss. The researchers will then select five children to be the centre of the case studies. If you are invited to participate there are two steps involved:
You will be emailed the Caregiver Perspectives Survey which includes 12 open-ended questions about the background of your child's need for AAC, previously trialled systems, AAC goals, your confidence in implementing the AAC system, and communication with the services your child accesses. You will then be emailed a copy of the Allied Health Practitioner/Educator Perspectives Survey to forward to other professionals or agencies that work with your child, inviting them to participate also by sharing their perspectives.
If you agree to participate, you and your child will be given a unique identifier so that your names will not be used in any aspect of the research.
Do you have to take part in this research study?No. Participation in this research study is voluntary. If you do not wish to take part, you do not have to. You can withdraw from the research study up until the point of your survey being deidentified.
What is the benefit of participating in this research study?By participating in this survey, you will have the opportunity to help educators, public servants, and academics better understand decision-making processes and the implementation of AAC for this population and begin to develop best practices.
Are there any risks associated with participating in this research?There are no anticipated risks associated with the research. However, reflecting on the process of decision making for your child may cause distressing feelings, in which case we encourage you to contact one of the following:
Beyond Blue, 1300 22 4636, available 24 hours, 7 days a week
https://www.beyondblue.org.auLifeline Australia, 13 11 14, available 24 hours, 7 days a week
https://www.lifeline.org.au How will your privacy be protected?Data will be retained securely for a minimum period of five years from the completion of the research project. Information will be managed and stored by the
University’s Research Data and Materials Management Guideline or any successor Guideline, and any other applicable University of Newcastle policy provisions.
Access to identifiable data will be limited to the three researchers conducting the study unless: you have consented otherwise or disclosure is required by law for us to comply with our regulatory obligations. Personal information collected through the consent form on QuestionPro will also comply with the privacy policy outlined on their website (https://www.questionpro.com/help/privacy-policy.html). All survey responses will be deidentified. Each interdisciplinary team will be assigned a number at the point of distribution to correlate responses to the specific team. Email addresses provided for the purpose of obtaining an executive summary will be separated from the survey answers at the point of collection, before answers being viewed by the research team.
How will information collected by the research team be used?Data will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals and will be presented at Australian and international conferences. The information will also contribute to Dimity Comino’s doctoral thesis.
If you would like a copy of the summary of the results, please indicate your request at the end of survey and provide your email address as indicated.
Individual participants will not be identifiable in any of the outputs generated from the research project, but individual anonymous responses may be quoted.
Non-identifiable data may be shared with other parties as part of a peer-review process to verify the robustness and integrity of the study or to contribute to further research and public knowledge.
What you need to do to provide consent for you to participate?Please read this Information Statement in its entirety and be sure you understand all the information provided before you agree to participate. Where the child is of sufficient age to understand what the research involves, please ensure you include them when making your decision.
If there is anything you do not understand, or if you have questions, please contact Associate Professor Jill Duncan at jill.duncan@uon.edu.au.
If you would like to participate, please complete the following Caregiver Consent Form and Caregiver Expression of Interest Survey and provide your contact details. The researchers will then be in contact to confirm whether you have been selected to participate or not. What if you want to withdraw from the research study?You may withdraw your contributions from the study up until the surveys have been deidentified by contacting Associate Professor Jill Duncan.
Your decision not to participate or withdraw from the study will not affect your relationship with the University of Newcastle or any other organisations involved in this research.
Do you need more information?If you would like more information about this research project or your potential involvement, please get in touch with Dr Duncan at jill.duncan@uon.edu.au.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this information,
PhD Student
Dimity Comino
Principal Supervisor and Chief Investigator
Associate Professor Jill Duncan
Co-supervisor
Dr Laura Roche
Concerns or complaints about this research:
This project has been approved by the University of Newcastle’s Human Research Ethics Committee, Approval No. H-2021-0024.
Loading...