New study explores low-tech aids to help non-verbal kids with autism communicate
NCT ID NCT07581483
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study looks at using simple, low-cost communication tools like picture boards and gestures for children with autism who have trouble speaking. It involves 500 children and their caregivers in rural Virginia and western Kenya. The goal is to find better ways to match each child with the right tools and train the people around them to use them effectively.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 500 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Jun 2027
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Jun 2032
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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3 to 14 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Communication partners (e.g., caregivers, parents, teachers, community health workers, or aides) aged 18 years or older * Primary communication partner of a child aged 3 to 14 years * Child has a documented diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder or a related neurodevelopmental condition * Child is minimally verbal or non-verbal * Able to communicate in English (U.S. sites) or English or Swahili (Kenya sites) * Able and willing to provide informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Communication partners younger than 18 years of age * Communication partners of children younger than 3 years or older than 14 years * Communication partners of children who use fluent spoken language * Inability to communicate in the required study languages * Inability or unwillingness to provide informed consent
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
2 sites in 2 countries. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital
Eldoret, Kenya
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University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia, 22903, United States
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