Caregiver-implemented naturalistic communication interventions: Characterizing chosen home routines

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) help individuals across the lifespan improve their communication skills. SLPs who specialize in early intervention work with families of children birth to three years old with communication delays. Language therapy is mandated to be family centered and to promote child development within natural, everyday activities. Research in early language intervention supports embedding language learning into natural routines such as shared book reading and play, but little is known about families’ preferences and child outcomes related to other home routines. In this study, videos of home routines from 34 families of toddlers with communication delays were collected before and after the parent coaching program Language and Play Every Day (LAPE). LAPE is designed to teach research-based strategies to caregivers of toddlers with language delays to facilitate child communication. Caregiver participants included English speakers (68%), Spanish speakers (32%), mothers (75%), fathers (15%), and grandparents (11%). Students coded the videos for length, quality, and routine type. Results showed that routine choices varied by family role and average length but not home language. Future research in early intervention should explore why families choose particular routines and child outcomes associated with chosen routines. Data from this study (e.g., video quality, child characteristics, caregivers’ use of strategies) are still being analyzed by students and faculty at Western Washington University and University of Oregon