DU seeks Down Syndrome study volunteers

DENVER - Oliver Mason is nearly 5 years old, he can sign and knows his letters, but he doesn't talk like other children his age. That worries his mom Marian Mason.

"We have a very big challenge in that he doesn't speak very much right now as he's getting closer to school age and we're terrified," said Marian Mason.

Mason said she is always looking for resources to better educate her son - to develop his skills.

Karen Riley, assistant professor of Child, Family and School Psychology at the University of Denver, wants to help families like the Masons.

She is the principal investigator in a first-of-its-kind study at the University of Denver that will look at two early literacy intervention approaches to educating children with Down Syndrome.

"We're taking very young children and looking at two different approaches to reading, to literacy and language development," Riley said.

DU is looking for 60 children with Down Syndrome between the ages of 2-and-a-half to 5 years old.

How well they learn will depend on how well their parents learn.

Researchers will train the parents in two different methods of reading to their kids.

"It's going to make the reading they do with their child more effective, more fun. The parents will feel like they're having a little bit more of an impact on their future learning," Riley said. "We're going to ask them to read with their children in this way for about 15 minutes a day."

After 12 weeks and again at six months, scientists will measure whether it's made any difference.

"We want to improve the educational strategies that are available for parents and families as well as interventionists, therapists etc. for kids that have Down Syndrome," said Riley. "And starting with Down Syndrome and hopefully translating that into future research for kids that have Fragile X Syndrome, XXY disorder."

The Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Educational Fund gave $130,000 to fund this study. The McDonnell Foundation gave $10,000 and DU gave $10,000.

If you would like to participate in this study, call Staci Jordan at 303-871-3465.