What will happen after I get an information sheet?

If you have been given an information sheet and invited to take part in the study by your clinician and are interested in taking part, please fill in the Expression of Interest form given to you and hand it to your child’s health professional or post it directly to us via the envelope provided with the form.

Once an Expression of Interest form has been received, the local research team will call you to discuss the study and answer any further questions you might have. If you want to go ahead, a member of the research team will arrange to meet with you and your child at home (or another place that is easy for you) to answer any questions you have. If you decide to take part, the researcher will ask you to sign a consent form. 

What happens next?

Once you have agreed to take part in the study, the researcher will ask you to complete some questionnaires and arrange a visit to carry out an assessment of communication and social interaction with your child. We will approach your child’s teacher so he/she can complete a questionnaire about your child’s restricted and repetitive behaviours in the classroom if you have consented to this. 

After the university visit, you will be allocated to either the eight week MRB parent group OR the eight week Learning About Autism group run by the National Autistic Society. Which group you are allocated to will be decided randomly by a computer programme, not by a member of the research team.  Whichever group you are in, we will invite you to attend eight group sessions with appoximately seven other parents. Each group session will last two hours and they will take place about a week apart, with breaks during the school holidays. Your child will not attend these group sessions.

How long will I take part in the study for?

Regardless of which group you are in (either MRB or Learning About Autism), we will contact you immediately after you complete all eight of the group sessions, and then again 24 weeks and 52 weeks later to arrange home visits. During these home visits a member of the research team will talk with you about your child’s RRB in particular situations and will ask you to complete some questionnaires.