Helping at-risk infants learn words by encouraging them to look at a speaker's mouth
Official title: Looking and Language (LoLa)
Funded at Father Flanagan's Boys' Home · NIH-11468375 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will teach infants who have an older autistic sibling to look at a speaker's mouth during play to help them pick up new words more easily.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Father Flanagan's Boys' Home NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boys Town, United States) |
| Project start | January 5, 2024 |
| Project end | February 28, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $249,000 |
| NIH project number | 4R00DC021501-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11468375 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Infants who have an older sibling diagnosed with autism, especially those in the early stages of language development, are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Children without a family history of autism or older children beyond the early sensitive period for language may be unlikely to benefit from this specific pre-emptive approach.
What this research studies
If your infant joins, clinicians will use a play-based language program that sometimes moves the toy or object being named close to the speaker's mouth to encourage watching lips and faces. Children will be randomly assigned to receive this audiovisual cueing version or the same language program without the mouth-focused cue. The team will enroll about 60 infants who have an older sibling with autism and follow their language learning over time. Measures will track word learning and early language milestones to see which approach helps more.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could boost early word learning and improve longer-term language outcomes for infants at risk for autism.
How similar studies have gone: Short-term trainings using mouth-focused cues have increased word learning in autistic preschoolers for taught words, but applying this as a pre-emptive intervention in infants is a newer approach.
Where this research is happening
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Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
Boys Town, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Feldman, Jacob I — Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
- Study coordinator: Feldman, Jacob I
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.