BeLAS in a few key words
BeLAS is a national research project that longitudinally studies the language development of children from the ages of 2 to 5 who have been diagnosed with autism
A national project
BeLAS brings together researchers from three Belgian French- and Dutch-speaking universities: ULB, UGent and KU Leuven. The aim of BeLAS is to reach out to French- and Dutch-speaking children all over Belgium. To do this, we have transformed three vans into mobile research centres, our LabMobiles. The LabMobile has been furnished in a cosy way and has eveyrthing to carry out the study activities with your child and an accompanying parent.
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No need to travel to the university, we come to you!
A longitudinal study
Children from
2 to 5 years
Children from
4 to 7 years
A longitudinal study is a study in which participants are followed over time from the moment they enter the study. If you decide to participate in BeLAS, we will follow your child's development for 2 years after entering the study. Participants are contacted by the researchers at regular intervals, every 6 months for 2 years, but the LabMobile will pass by once a year.
Language development?
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In order to monitor your child's language development and the factors that predict a favorable development, we use different techniques. To assess language, we use language tests, but we also record the child's speech during a regular day at home. To assess play and interaction skills, the child participates in a series of activities in the LabMobile. Finally, we measure brain activity with an EEG and sleep quality with an actimeter.
