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We've missed you!

Like many workplaces, our lab closed in March and staff began working remotely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We stopped seeing participants and started thinking about ways to adapt to a rapidly changing world. 

Summers are usually a bright and busy time for us because we see many of you for assessments during the school break. The pandemic prevented us from seeing participants for several months. Recently, we started seeing a small number of families for limited assessments to collect information at vital timepoints in child development.
NDD Lab in Zoom
We're still unable to conduct our full assessment battery, but we do hope to connect with each of our participant families in the next few months to check-in and share personalized updates. As always, please reach out to us at any time if you need anything. We love hearing from you!

Warmly,
Your Friends at the NDD Lab

Minimizing Risk to Our Participants During COVID

The protection of our participant families is of the utmost importance to us. If you are uncomfortable with any element of the research study, you are welcome to request accommodations, delay your visit to a later time, or withdraw from the research. 

Below are some of the safety precautions we're taking during this time:

  • Minimizing in-person interaction time. We will only see a limited number of participants in-person this year. The remaining participants will be asked to complete questionnaires and interviews remotely. For in-person assessments, we will conduct as many activities as possible remotely to limit in-person interaction. 
  • Health screenings for lab staff and participants. Our staff conduct daily symptom and temperature checks to screen themselves for COVID-19. For in-person assessments, we will reach out to participants 24 hours prior to their assessment to screen them for symptoms COVID-19. When arriving to the assessment, staff will conduct temperature checks on themselves and participants.
  • Using personal protective equipment (PPE). Our research staff will be practicing recommended hygiene and sanitation practices, including frequent hand washing and sanitizing of workspaces. Masks, face shields, and gloves will be worn during in-person assessments.
  • Cleaning and sanitization procedures. All areas and assessment materials will be cleaned and disinfected before and after use according to the recommended CDC protocol. We will minimize back-and-forth transfer of materials to the extent possible, such as not sharing pens.  

Congratulations, Chandler!

Research specialist Chandler Knott will continue working in the NDD Lab as she pursues her PhD in School Psychology from UofSC! Read more.

COVID Resources

You can find a list of free resources available to families during this time on our website. Read more.

Remote Research Opportunities


COVID Stress Study

We are all are facing unprecedented times. Disruptions to our personal and professional lives, schedule changes, and school closures can present unique challenges to children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their families. During these challenging times, we are sensitive to meeting the needs of these individuals and their families. To help, we are starting up a new project to understand the stress that families are facing by asking them to share their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study will consist of forms that will be completed online and participants will be compensated for their time. We'll reach out soon with additional information on how families can participate.


Practice Interviews

One of the ways our lab is utilizing this "downtime" is by dedicating additional resources to staff training. We are always looking for families we can practice measures with, and phone interviews are a great option in the era of social distancing. If you're interested, please send us an email at uscnddlab@sc.edu

We have a new look!

We are so excited to share our new logo with you! This change comes along with a transition to using a new email address: uscnddlab@sc.edu. You'll now receive our communications from this email. If you try to contact us using our old email address, don't worry! All messages will be forwarded to our new inbox. 
In the coming months, we will unveil an updated website with our new branding. We also hope to have some stickers and t-shirts made! 
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