UNDERSTANDING SLEEP AND BEHAVIOUR IN CHILDREN WITH NEURODEVELOPMENTAL CONDITIONS
For more information about the BRIDGE projects, see the Cerebra Network website.
Project 1 - Sleep-Impulsivity-Behaviour (SIB) Follow Up Study
In the SIB follow up study, we are getting in touch with those who took part in our original SIB study to investigate behaviours that challenge (BtC) in autistic children with intellectual disability. Executive functioning and sleep quality were compared with BtC profiles.
​
The SIB follow up study is a repeat of the previous SIB study and involves a remote play based assessment over video conferencing with children. Caregivers also completed questionnaires and an interview. This time there is no sleep aspect to the study.
Please note - participation in this study is only available to those who took part in the original SIB study.
Project team
Dr Catherine Laverty
Professor Caroline Richards
Lauren Walters
Sharon Shibu
Beatriz Pinhero Sanchez
Kiran Kaur
Hamza Surty
Project 2 - BEOND Wave 2
BEOND (Behavioural and Emotional Outcomes in individuals with Neurodevelopmental Disorders) is a survey study part of BRIDGE. BEOND wave 2 composes of multiple questionnaires assessing a variety of behavioural and clinical outcomes for individuals of all ages with intellectual disability and associated rare genetic syndromes.
BEOND aims to increase the understanding of critical areas of need for these people; explore changes overtime; and answer range of questions important to families (anxiety, sleep, wellbeing, access to services, etc.)
Wave 2 of BEOND welcomes new families and is open February 2026!
Project team
Dr Rory O'Sullivan
Professor Caroline Richards
Dr Lauren Shelley
Prabhjyot Digpal
Beatriz Pinhero Sanchez
Kiran Kaur
Mohammed Ali
Project 3 + 5
In project 3 + 5, researchers at the University of Birmingham are exploring whether a new, play-based assessment of executive function can be used with children and adults with rare genetic syndromes associated with intellectual disability.
​
Executive function refers to a set of skills that help people manage everyday tasks, such as making plans, solving problems, and adjusting to new situations. These skills are important for supporting independence and quality of life across the lifespan.
The study will involve a combination of remote and in-person play-based activities. Caregivers will also be asked to complete questionnaires and take part in an interview to share their perspectives.
Please note - recruitment for this project will begin in 2026
Project team
Dr Kayla Smith
Professor Caroline Richards
Verinder Poonian
Beatriz Pinhero Sanchez
Kiran Kaur
Project 4
This project aims to better understand quality of life in people with Fragile X syndrome and the factors that influence it. Our objective is to give a voice to individuals who have mainly had studies conducted by proxy. Participants will complete questionnaires about different aspects of their lives and a systematic review will be completed in quality of life in not just fragile X syndrome, but in genetic syndromes associated with intellectual disabilities.
The project will then also use 'Talking Mats', a picture-based communication tool that supports individuals to express their views by placing images on a mat to show how they feel about different topics. Through this approach, we aim to ensure that individuals with Fragile X syndrome can directly share their experiences and perspectives, and are given a voice when it comes to understanding their quality of life.
Project team
Aamina Khan
Professor Caroline Richards
Dr Rory Devine
Project 6
This project aims to better understand how educational participation and progress is measured in children with intellectual disability. The first part of the project will involve a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis to identify measures of educational performance which are used to assess children with intellectual disabilities. We will investigate these measures further by analysing how effective they are at measuring change in educational performance.
The second part of the study will involve the BESSI (The Brief Early Skills and Support Index) being adapted for use in children with intellectual disabilities to provide a holistic measure of how children are performing. The adapted measure will then be piloted in special education schools across the West Midlands to determine how effectively and sensitively it is able to measure educational performance.
Project team
Arfaa Riaz
Professor Caroline Richards