Online Research on Down Syndrome and Williams Syndrome

Thanks for your interest in our research project!  If you would like to read a brief summary of this project, which was published in 2001, click here. 

Although data collection for these pilot studies has been completed, you are nevertheless welcome to run the programs.  Please read through the information below:

This page contains links to a brief survey and a brief experiment designed for families with a child, adolescent, or adult who has special needs--a person with Williams syndrome or Down syndrome (trisomy 21, translocation, or mosaic).  The survey asks questions about your computer and the handicapped individual's family background and temperament.   The experiment gathers data on auditory memory and visual memory (the tasks can be done by individuals who are mentally retarded).  Our goal is to explore the feasibility of conducting online research over the World Wide Web with individuals who have special needs. 

These studies were written with Macromedia Authorware.  To participate, you must have the latest version of the Authorware Web Player (a free "plug-in") installed in your Microsoft or Netscape browser.  If you see a small picture of the College of Charleston in the box below within 2 minutes, then you already have the necessary plug-in.  Simply click one of the following links:

Survey (requires adult only)     Experiment (requires both adult and child)

* If 2 minutes has passed and you still do not see a picture, then click the following link to automatically retrieve the needed plug-in for your browser:  Download the Authorware Web Player.  You may need to click the Refresh/Reload button on your browser after downloading. 

* If you have difficulty downloading the plug-in or making our study work correctly, we would appreciate your sending us a brief description of the problem via e-mail to the following link:  marcellm@cofc.edu