OE technology researcher joins E technology researcher joins NIH-funded autism study

A University of Florida College of Education researcher is involved in a four-year, $1.1 million study designed to help fathers communicate more effectively with their autistic children.

Richard Ferdig, assistant professor in the School of Teaching and Learning, is developing a Web site that will be used to broadcast training sessions to a group of fathers participating in the study, which is being funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, a part of the National Institutes of Health, and headed by Jennifer Elder, an associate professor and department chair in the UF College of Nursing.

For his part, Ferdig plans to explore ways to combine educational theory with new technology. “I don’t believe the field of educational technology necessarily spends enough time researching learning in informal learning environments,” he says. “I thought this would be a great way to examine how we could get parents involved through the use of technology.”

Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and is characterized by problems interacting and communicating with others. A previous study by Elder found that teaching fathers how to talk to and play with their autistic children in a home setting improved communication, increased the number of intelligible words the youngsters spoke by more than 50 percent and helped fathers get more involved in their care.

Ferdig’s Web site will feature training “booster” sessions that fathers can view and then hear comments on how they can improve upon their play sessions with their children. Ferdig will get $45,594 over the next four years to develop the site, which will include an investigator feedback system.

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Writer
Anwen Norman, anwendy@ufl.edu, (352) 392-0726, ext. 246