In recent years, telepractice has emerged as a viable method for delivering speech and language interventions, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. A notable study, "Enhanced Milieu Teaching with Phonological Emphasis: A Pilot Telepractice Parent Training Study for Toddlers with Clefts," offers compelling evidence on the effectiveness of telepractice in training parents to facilitate speech and language development in children with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P).
Understanding the Study
The study focused on training parents to use Enhanced Milieu Teaching with Phonological Emphasis (EMT + PE) strategies through telepractice. The goal was to evaluate the effects on both parent strategy use and child speech and language outcomes. Three mother-child dyads participated, with children aged 21 to 27 months who had repaired CL/P. A non-cleft twin was also assessed for normative comparison.
Key Findings
- Parent Strategy Use: Parents showed significant increases in the use of EMT + PE strategies, such as matched turns, modeling and expansions, and prompting and speech recasting.
- Child Outcomes: Children demonstrated improved speech production, increased talking rate, and expanded expressive vocabulary. For instance, Child 1 showed a 35.6% increase in Percent Consonants Correct (PCC) and a 30.4% increase in PCC of Stops.
- Maintenance: Parents maintained their use of strategies even after direct coaching had been discontinued, suggesting the sustainability of the training.
Clinical Implications
The study suggests several actionable steps for practitioners:
- Implement EMT + PE Strategies: Incorporate strategies such as environmental arrangement, matched turns, modeling, expansions, and speech recasting into your practice. These have shown to significantly improve speech and language outcomes.
- Utilize Telepractice: The study demonstrated that telepractice is as effective as face-to-face training for parent-implemented interventions. This opens up new avenues for reaching families who may have logistical constraints.
- Dosage and Intensity: The study found that a higher frequency of sessions (three times a week) led to rapid increases in parent strategy use. Consider increasing the intensity of your intervention sessions for quicker results.
Encouraging Further Research
While the study provides promising results, it also highlights the need for further research. Future studies should explore larger sample sizes and additional speech strategies to address cleft-related speech errors through telepractice.
Conclusion
This pilot study underscores the potential of telepractice in delivering effective speech and language interventions for children with CL/P. By training parents in EMT + PE strategies, practitioners can significantly enhance speech and language outcomes, making a lasting impact on the child's development.
To read the original research paper, please follow this link: Enhanced Milieu Teaching with Phonological Emphasis: A Pilot Telepractice Parent Training Study for Toddlers with Clefts.
