Parent training of early language facilitation skills: parent and child outcomes from a large-scale effectiveness study in a diverse clinical population

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of parent-led early language facilitation training via the Hanen ® It Takes Two To Talk ® (ITTT) (Pepper & Weitzman [2004]. It takes two to talk: A practical guide for parents of children with language delays. The Hanen Centre.) program, within a large linguistically and demographically diverse community sample of early language-delayed children. Measures of expressive vocabulary, mean length of utterance (M3LU), and parent-child interaction were taken at multiple time-points, with change benchmarked against growth-curves for typical language maturation where possible. Significant improvements were evident pre-post intervention on all outcome measures regardless of linguistic or demographic diversity. Results indicated that gains in expressive vocabulary and M3LU were significantly greater than those predicted from age-matched typically developing children over the same time-period; M3LU in early language-delayed children was expedited to within estimated normal limits based on age. Gains in parent-child interaction were maintained at 3 months post-ITTT. These results point to the effectiveness of early language facilitation training in promoting expressive language and lasting improvements in parent-child interaction skills when implemented at scale within a demographically and linguistically diverse clinical referral group. 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.