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

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.) programme, 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.