Search

Purpose: Interactions with caregivers during the ordinary activities that occur as families go about their everyday lives are critical to supporting children’s acquisition of social communication and language skills. The purpose of this study was to examine child communication and parent verbal responsiveness across interaction contexts in 211 children (Mage = 20 months) on the autism spectrum (n = 121), with developmental delay (n = 46), or with typical development (n = 44). Method: Families participated in up to eight activities during an hour-long, video-recorded home observation. We tested differences in the strength of associations between diagnostic group and interaction context using linear mixed-effects models, with child rate per minute of communication and proportions of parent follow-in comments and directives as outcome variables. Child communicative functions expressed across contexts were also examined. Results: Children across groups communicated at significantly higher rates per minute during book sharing and play with people compared to other interaction contexts. Most child communication was for the function of joint attention during book sharing, for social interaction during play with people, and for behavior regulation during necessary activities such as family chores and meals. On average, parents of children responded using proportionally more follow-in comments during book sharing and play compared to necessary activities, during which parents used more follow-in directives. Conclusion: Results provide a glimpse into the dyadic communication that may occur within everyday activities at home, which supports the need for future intervention research and may aid clinicians seeking to identify activities that serve as important contexts for intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Children in foster care are at an increased risk for language delays and disorders, and foster parents can play a significant role in preventing delays in early language development. This scoping review explored empirical studies that included foster parent training programs for families with foster children under the age of 5 years. Method: Using the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews), multiple databases were searched, and resulting article titles and abstracts were screened for inclusion in the review. Each study that met inclusion criteria was then coded for the training methods used to teach foster parents intervention strategies and the targeted outcomes of the intervention. Results: A total of 24 studies were identified. Of the 24 studies reviewed, all included interventions focused on increasing parent--child relationships and decreasing child challenging behaviors, but few included opportunities for foster parents to practice using intervention strategies with their foster child. None of the studies focused specifically on strategies for promoting children's language development. When outcomes across the studies were reviewed, only two focused on children's language. Conclusions: The results of this review point to the need for more research on language interventions that can be implemented by foster parents. The discussion focuses on the important role speech-language pathologists can play in the prevention of early language delays or disorders in young foster children. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21714311 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family routines provide young children with predictable, repeatable, and functional contexts for learning about the world. Participating in family routines is a critical pathway by which all children learn. While the use of family routines in caregiver-implemented interventions (CIIs) is supported by theories, research, and recommended practices, few investigations examine the degree to which interventions take place within routines across developmental domains in early childhood intervention research. We conducted a scoping review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist to examine an interdisciplinary body of CIIs. We coded 42 articles for the presence and types of routines, child and family demographics, developmental targets, and how routines were identified within CIIs. Autism spectrum disorder was the highest represented disability; many studies included play routines or a combination of play with another routine. In this article, we discuss the importance of family routines in CIIs, how to jointly identify a range of routines with caregivers, and we describe the need for research on family routines in CIIs across disabilities and diverse family backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents are encouraged to read to their children as early as possible. Multiple studies of parent–child shared book reading with children ages 3 years and older have shown positive outcomes on parent use of language-based strategies and child language development. However, few studies have included children under the age of 3; thus, little is known about interventions for parent–child shared book reading practices with infants and toddlers. In this systematic review, we examined 12 studies of interventions that included practice opportunities to support parent–child shared book reading practices with infants and toddlers between the ages of birth and 3 years. Across the studies, parents were taught to use interactive shared book reading strategies through a variety of teaching functions; however, only six studies included direct measurement of parent strategy use and child behaviors during shared book reading interactions. Directions for future research and the implications of this review are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This descriptive study included a systematic examination of provider and caregiver reflective conversations during caregiver coaching sessions focused on embedded intervention. Transcribed videos from 31 provider–caregiver dyads in two groups (Embedded Practices and Interventions with Caregivers [EPIC] vs. business-as-usual [BAU]) were used for data collection, resulting in a total of 93 transcripts across three different time points. Using methods of directed content analysis, a coding scheme describing various components of shared reflection was developed and used to code transcripts. Coding data were used to explore the rate per minute and relative frequency of types, topics, and spontaneity of reflection. Although there were no statistically significant differences in the frequency and rate of reflective versus nonreflective conversational turns, there were group differences in the reflective topics and specific types of reflective comments and questions posed by participants. Results from this study and others can help the field further define reflection as a coaching strategy and consider the potential utility of different reflective comment and question types to increase caregiver capacity to embed interventions in home routines. Further research is recommended to explicate further definitions and processes for reflection specific to caregiver coaching, including methods used to code reflective conversations and evaluate how reflection impacts caregivers' intervention implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Intervention: fidelity increased following the professional development program. • Student receptive vocabulary gains were noted for words targeted. • Educators found the program feasible for use in Early Head Start. • Self-guided professional development with coaching may support vocabulary instruction during storybook reading. This multiple-baseline, single case design study investigated the effects of a multi-component professional development program to increase educators' use of explicit vocabulary instruction during small group interactive shared book reading sessions in Early Head Start classrooms. The effects of the program were examined across four educators and 2–3 of their students (n = 9 students). Educators were provided with a professional development program, which included an introduction to content through direct teaching, opportunities for practice during classroom routines, and individualized coaching with feedback. Baseline book reading sessions resulted in consistently low levels of educator intervention fidelity based on fidelity checklists, followed by immediate increases in fidelity upon introduction to the program. Students showed receptive vocabulary gains for words targeted during intervention and maintenance sessions. Educators found the program to be feasible for classroom use, and they planned to continue using the targeted strategies in the future. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There is a growing demand to include robust measures demonstrating the link between intervention outcomes and fidelity. • An implementation fidelity framework of teaching functions and training procedures was developed and assessed. • Authors can improve descriptions of procedures in caregiver-implemented research using precise and consistent terminology. The Bridging the Word Gap Research Network conducted a review of literature to identify effective interventions to facilitate the communication development of young children in hopes of identifying ways to reduce the well-documented word gap among children associated with socio-economic class. As part of this effort, we focused on the ways in which caregivers (teachers, parents, and others) were taught to implement evidence-based practices for facilitating language learning and use. Our goal was to characterize (a) the implementation fidelity, to describe the teaching functions and implementation procedures for teaching those language intervention strategies and (b) the intervention fidelity with which caregivers used strategies for facilitating their children's language development. Because training procedures are not well described in the implementation and professional development literature, a new framework was developed and its feasibility was assessed in an attempt to characterize the teaching functions and specific implementation procedures used across studies. Among the 270 intervention studies reviewed, there were 124 in which caregivers were taught to implement language intervention strategies. Teaching functions included a variety of implementation procedures, with 95% of studies sharing information, 80% incorporating modeling, 65% providing feedback, and only 18% using prompting/guiding/scaffolding. Seventy-two of these studies (58%) reported intervention fidelity, with an increasing proportion reporting fidelity in recent years. Of these 72 studies, 81% were rated as having a 'moderate to strong' description of fidelity measures, and 50% reported high levels of intervention fidelity (i.e., >70% fidelity). These analyses demonstrate the need for reporting more detailed and precise information on intervention fidelity and the teaching functions and procedures used to teach caregivers to implement language interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]