Background
The University of York and the University of Bath would like to invite you to allow your child take part in the following research project: “Camouflaging in Developmental Language Disorder: understanding young people’s experiences”. Before agreeing to take part, please read this information sheet carefully. Let us know if anything is unclear or if you would like further information. Please note that if, in the course of our study, we discover something that raises concerns about your child’s safety or the safety of others, we are obliged to seek further expert help and advice. It is important to be aware of information that is provided by the Department of Psychology about the general terms and conditions that apply with respect to the processing of personal data. Please consult: https://wiki.york.ac.uk/display/PsySharedDocs/Key+information+about+GDPR
 
What is this study about?
We are interested in how young people with DLD might “camouflage” or cover up their language difficulties. For example:

• They might pretend to understand someone when they have not.
• They might copy what others are doing in class if they have not understood the teacher’s instructions.
• They might try to finish a conversation that they find too difficult (for example, by saying they feel tired, or by trying to change the topic to something they are familiar with).

We do not know what young people with DLD think about camouflaging. They might find it tiring, or frustrating, or they might find it a helpful tool. Some young people with DLD also might not camouflage much, while others might do it a lot. We want to interview young people with DLD to find out what they think.

Why is my child being invited to take part?
We have asked schools and organisations that support families and children with language needs to pass on information about our study to anyone who might be interested in taking part. We would like to interview young people who are:

1. Aged 12-17 years
2. Who have a diagnosis of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), or a profile that strongly suggests DLD (previously DLD was called Specific Language Impairment/SLI)
3. Who are based in the United Kingdom

Do I have to agree to allow my child to be tested?
No, participation is optional. If you do decide to go ahead, you will be given a copy of this information sheet for your records and will be asked to complete a consent form. If you change your mind at any point during the study, you will be able to withdraw your child’s participation without having to provide a reason.

What will my child be asked to do? Where will the research take place? Who will my child meet?
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to complete a general consent form, and a recording consent form. You will be asked a few questions about your child (e.g. their age, how old they were when they received their DLD diagnosis, any other conditions they might have been diagnosed with). We will send you a copy of some of the interview questions in advance: this means your child will have some time to process the questions, think about their answers, and know what to expect on the day of the interview. If your child would like, they can even send us some ideas in advance about what they think about camouflaging. We also have a video about our project for young people: please watch this with your child so they know what to expect and you can know they are happy to take part. This short YouTube video of Joey from Friends is also a useful example of someone pretending to understand what their friends are saying.

We are mainly conducting the interviews with young people over Zoom, while they are at home (so after school, or in the holidays). If you think a Zoom interview at home will be difficult for your child, let us know, and we can arrange to interview your child at school. If your child's school is near our researcher Kate Kempton, we may be able to arrange a face to face interview. The researcher who interviews your child will be a speech and language therapist who is experienced working with children with DLD. They will make every effort to help your child feel comfortable and relaxed during the interview. All our researchers have Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS, formerly, Criminal Record Bureau, CRB) clearance for working with children.

The researcher will ask your child about their experiences with friends, in class, with any speech and language therapists they are working with, and at home. They will ask them if they feel they need to pretend to understand things, or cover up their language needs. We have developed some visual aids to help support children to tell us about their experiences. This interview will be recorded: we will audio-video record the conversation between your child and the researcher, and also the pictures they select on the visual aid tool. The interview will last between 30 minutes and 1 hour. Children can take breaks if they need to.

We will send you an email after your child has taken part to confirm the interview has taken place. If your child thinks of anything they would like to share later, they can always send they ideas by asking you to email the researcher.

As a thank you for your time, we will send your family a £20 Amazon voucher.

What happens to the answers my child and I give the researchers? Will you transfer my child’s data internationally?
The interview recordings will be turned into a written form (a “transcript”). We will remove names and places that could identify the children (e.g. “At Redhill Primary, I liked my teachers” would become “At PRIMARY SCHOOL, I liked my teachers”). The written transcripts will be anonymous: no one will be able to tell who took part from reading the transcripts. Only the project team at York University and Bath University will get to see the recordings or the unedited written transcripts. The transcripts may be reused by the research team for secondary research and/or teaching purposes. The recordings will never be shared outside the project team at York University and Bath University.

Will my child be identified in any research outputs?
No. It will not be possible for anyone to know you or your child took part from our research report.

Questions or concerns
If you have any questions about this information sheet or concerns about how your child’s data is being processed, please contact Dr Hannah Hobson in the first instance. If you are still dissatisfied, please contact the University’s Acting Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@york.ac.uk.
Contact Details: Dr Hannah Hobson, Department of Psychology, The University of York, York, YO10 5DD
Phone: 01904 323190               E-mail: hannah.hobson@york.ac.uk