| NCT ID | NCT06860022 |
| Status | Recruiting |
| Phase | — |
| Sponsor | Vanderbilt University |
| Condition | Hearing Loss, Bilateral |
| Study Type | INTERVENTIONAL |
| Enrollment | 30 participants |
| Start Date | 2025-08-28 |
| Primary Completion | 2026-04 |
Eligibility & Interventions
Eligibility Fast-Check
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What to Expect as a Participant
You will actively receive the study intervention — which may be a drug, biologic, device, or procedure.
This trial targets 30 participants in total. It began in 2025-08-28 with a primary completion date of 2026-04.
⚠ This information is for research awareness only. Always consult your physician before joining any clinical trial. Participation is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time.
Brief Summary
The proposed research addresses a long-standing and important challenge of improving literacy skills of children who are deaf and hard of hearing, a historically under researched group. The investigators aim to leverage shape coding - an empirically validated intervention approach for constructing sentences in spoken English - for improving how efficiently children who are deaf and hard of hearing learn to correctly construct sentences in written English. To advance the promising yet underutilized research on shape coding, the investigators complete the next logical step of applying the visual supports provided with shape coding to written language for deaf and hard of hearing children. Shape coding has been effective for teaching sentence structure in spoken English to children with language disabilities and has recently been applied to sentence structure in American Sign Language with deaf and hard of hearing children. Intervention involving shape coding is predicted to result in increased accuracy of word order in sentences in written English because deaf and hard of hearing children often benefit from visual information. The investigators will accomplish this aim using single case multiple probe across participants design studies with 30 fifth through eighth grade children who are deaf and hard of hearing. The knowledge gained will guide language and literacy intervention for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Children in grades five through eight * deaf or hard of hearing * use spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL) * bilateral hearing loss * the ability to read and understand the grammatical structures of interest * already be writing sentences, but demonstrate errors in word order and/or grammar. Exclusion Criteria: * diagnosis of dyslexia * uncorrected vision impairment (i.e., identified vision loss without use of corrective lenses that interferes with eligibility evaluation tasks) * evidence of severe motor impairment (i.e., insufficient motor skills to complete eligibility evaluation tasks independently).
Contact & Investigator
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can join the NCT06860022 clinical trial?
This trial is open to participants of all sexes, aged 9 Years or older, up to 15 Years, studying Hearing Loss, Bilateral. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria are listed in the Eligibility Criteria section. Always confirm your eligibility with the research team before applying.
Is NCT06860022 currently recruiting?
Yes, NCT06860022 is actively recruiting participants. Contact the research team at adriana.m.valtierra@vanderbilt.edu for enrollment information.
Where is the NCT06860022 trial being conducted?
This trial is being conducted at Nashville, United States.
Who is sponsoring the NCT06860022 clinical trial?
NCT06860022 is sponsored by Vanderbilt University. The trial plans to enroll 30 participants.