Authors’ information
USN, intellectual disabilities, autism
LARSEN
A.Nordahl-Hansen.A.Nordahl-Hansen is a Professor of Special Education and do research in autism, developmental psychology, and research methods. He is head of the research Group DeveLeP. Dr. Nordahl-Hansen is the principal investigator for the study.H. C. Moreira.H. C. Moreira is a professor and does research within Statistics, Psychiatry, Clinical Trials, Educational Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Clinical Psychology. Dr. Cogo-Moreira is the project statistician.K. Larsen.K. Larsen is an associate professor, a clinical advisor for University Hospital of North Norway, an advisor at Vestfold Hospital Trust, and a consultant at Cooperative Focus, crl. Disciplines: Epidemiology, Special Education, Developmental Psychology, and Pre-school Education. K. Larsen will monitor and advise throughout the study.M. B. Mossige.M. B. Mossige has a master’s degree in special education and is a research assistant. She is a teacher and a special education teacher and have several years of experience teaching children with intellectual disabilities and autism who require augmentative and alternative communication. Her research interests include children with intellectual disabilities, autism, AAC, reading instruction, and language development.L. B. Ulriksen.L. B. Ulriksen has a master’s degree in special education and is a funded PhD student. She has been a special education teacher for 22 years and has worked with children with autism who require augmentative and alternative communication for a total of 29 years. Her research interests include children with intellectual disabilities, autism, AAC, reading instruction, language development, and special education. L. B. Ulriksen conceived the study and is the first author of this manuscript.Corresponding author:Correspondence to linebu@hiof.no.Composition, roles, and responsibilities:The University of South-Eastern Norway, USN, and the Østfold University College, HIØ, have the overall responsibility. ANH and KL is supervising the trial on behalf of USN and HIØ. There is no requirement for a trial steering committee, but all the authors have regular meetings, both physical and per email, to oversee conduct and progress. If we deviate from plans such as the data management plan or the ethical protocols, we must first apply for a change to Sikt and the data protection representative at USN for approval. The data protection manager at HIØ will also attend a meeting per semester to ensure that the protocol is followed. There is not a Stakeholder and Public Involvement Group involved in the trial. The Research Council of Norway is a Norwegian government agency that funds research and innovation projects and supports this reading intervention. The Research Council has approved the project and will not participate further in the collaboration beyond the funds.