Parents and Caregivers WANTED

Are you the parent or caregiver of a child (age 18 months to 21-years-old) with an autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, or Down syndrome? If so, please consider participating in Virginia Commonwealth University's study on parents' experiences in choosing and providing therapy for their children!

We are interested in learning more about what it is like for a parent of a child with a disability to choose and provide therapies for that child. What treatments have you tried? What were you expecting those treatments to do, and were those expectations met? You are the expert on your child and we want to hear your story about making decisions regarding therapies, and how those decisions impact you and your family.

Your participation would consist of completing a questionnaire on the Internet that asks for information about your child's diagnosis and level of functioning, the therapies you have tried, if it feels stressful to choose these treatments, how providing therapy affects your day-to-day life, and whether or not you are seeing the progress you expected. Little is known of the time, effort, and money that parents put in to their children's therapeutic needs and this information can lead to a better understanding of the experiences families of children with a disability face. While we also ask for some basic demographic information (e.g., age, gender, race), participation is strictly anonymous and we will have no means of identifying you.

Feel free to visit the questionnaire at: http://survey.vcu.edu/surveys/E4JY8Y to learn more about the study and to preview the questionnaire. Participation is strictly voluntary and all your responses will be confidential. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Virginia Mackintosh, doctoral candidate at the Department of Psychology at VCU, at mackintoshvh@vcu.edu or Dr. Barbara Myers, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at VCU, at bmyers@vcu.edu or (804) 828-6752. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated!