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. 2022 Jul 19;65(8):3004–3055. doi: 10.1044/2022_JSLHR-21-00543

Table 7.

Summary of delivery format, key intervention strategies taught and information provided to caregivers, and intervention contexts.

Study Caregiver–child language intervention name Intervention characteristics Delivery format Key intervention strategies taught (S)/ information provided (I) to caregivers Intervention context
12 through 23 months
 Developmental disorder
   Fey et al., 2013 a. Milieu Communication Teaching - High Intensity NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) waiting for child to act or communicate

  • (S) follow child's lead

  • (S) imitate child play acts and gestures, vocalizations, and eye contact

  • (S) comment on child's acts and objects of attention

  • (S) put the child's nonverbal communication acts into words (linguistic mapping)

  • (S) add semantically to the child's topic

  • (S) copy and add structure and meaning to the child's use of words (recasts)

Familiar activities & routines
b. Milieu Communication Teaching - Low Intensity NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) waiting for child to act or communicate

  • (S) follow child's lead

  • (S) imitate child play acts and gestures, vocalizations, and eye contact

  • (S) comment on child's acts and objects of attention

  • (S) put the child's nonverbal communication acts into words (linguistic mapping)

  • (S) add semantically to the child's topic

  • (S) copy and add structure and meaning to the child's use of words (recasts)

Familiar activities & routines
  Mahoney & Powell, 1988 a. Transactional Intervention Program Developmental One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) turn-taking strategies: waiting for child to act, imitating child's behavior, following child's lead, and occasionally elaborating on child's activity

  • (S) interactive match strategies: adjusting behavioral style so that it is similar to child's tempo or pace

  • (S) engaging in activities that are within child's current range of development

  • (S) following and responding to child's current interests

  • (S) incorporating strategies into daily routines

  Yoder & Warren, 2002 a. Responsivity Education and Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching NDBI Mixed: In-person
  • (S) optimal responding to children's communication acts

Play routines
 Autism
  Brian et al., 2016 a. Social ABCs NDBI One-on-one: In-person;
text/emails;
phone calls
  • (S) ABC's of learning

  • (S) enhancing communication

  • (S) sharing positive emotion

  • (S) motivation and arousal

  • (S) play and the social ABC's

  • (S) daily care-giving activities

  • (S) managing behavioral challenges

  • (S) parent self-care

Familiar activities & routines; play routines
  Carter et al., 2011 a. Hanen More Than Words Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) responding to child's communicative attempts

  • (S) following child's lead

  • (S) building and participating in joint action routines in play

  • (S) enhancing interaction during caregiving routines

  • (S) using books and play as contexts for communication elicitation and reward

  • (S) using visual supports to help children understand expectations

  • (S) supporting peer interactions

  • (S) scaffolding peer play dates

Familiar activities & routines
  Stahmer et al., 2020 a. Project ImPACT for Toddlers NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) limit distractions

  • (S) adjust animation

  • (S) focus on child

  • (S) comment

  • (S) imitate child

  • (S) model and adjust communication and play

  • (S) create opportunities

  • (S) help child anticipate interruptions

  • (S) use communication temptations

  • (S) wait

  • (S) respond and expand

  • (S) expands communication and play

  • (S) help child succeed

  • (S) provide related and clear prompts and adjust

  • (S) provide natural and immediate rewards

Play routines
 Language disorder/delay
  Rajesh & Venkatesh, 2019 a. Low-Intensity Parent Training Program Developmental One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) speech-language stimulation strategies in the contexts of free play and daily routines

  • speech and language milestones

  • (I) play development

Familiar activities & routines; play routines
24 through 35 months
 Developmental disorder
  Cycyk et al., 2020 a. Language and Play Every Day en Español Intervention Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) select activities that occur frequently and interest the child

  • (S) give full attention to the activity and not rush through it

  • (S) maintain the activity or routine for at least 5 min

  • (S) limit distractions to communication

  • (S) focusing on the child's interest whenever possible or acceptable

  • (S) fully participate in the activity

  • (S) put preferred item where the child can see it but cannot reach it

  • (S) create opportunity for child to request help

  • (S) offer choice of two or more objects or activities

  • (S) give small portions of preferred items

  • (S) do something silly in the routine

  • (S) add something new or unexpected to a routine

  • (S) balance turn-taking

  • (S) limit yes/no or test questions

  • (S) responding immediately to child verbal and nonverbal communication bids

  • (S) expand on child's communication attempts

Familiar activities & routines; play routines;
  Fey et al., 2006 a. Responsivity Education/Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching - Down syndrome NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) recognize real or possible child communicative attempts and respond to them meaningfully

  • (S) how to provide recasts and linguistic mappings of child's communication acts

  • (S) awareness of child's developing nonintentional and intentional communication behaviors

  • (S) wait for child to produce interpretable behaviors

  • (S) attend to child's focus of attention by following the child's lead

  • (S) provide appropriate verbal and nonverbal consequences to child's acts

Familiar activities & routines
b. Responsivity Education/Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching - Other Etiology NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) recognize real or possible child communicative attempts and respond to them meaningfully

  • (S) how to provide recasts and linguistic mappings of child's communication acts

  • (S) awareness of child's developing nonintentional and intentional communication behaviors

  • (S) wait for child to produce interpretable behaviors

  • (S) attend to child's focus of attention by following the child's lead

  • (S) provide appropriate verbal and nonverbal consequences to child's acts

Familiar activities & routines
  Iven et al., 1989 a. Pragmatic Interaction Strategies Intervention NDBI Group: In-person
  • (S) reference - direct child's attention to an object or event through gestures or verbalizations

  • (S) model - label items or events in the environment not contingent upon a request for information

  • (S) imitation - repeat exactly or partially child's verbal and/or nonverbal behaviors

  • (S) description - provide child with more information about items or events, including adjectives, prepositions and adverbs

  • (S) parallel talk - describe actions of self and child as the actions are occurring

  • (S) expansion - repeat child utterance while adding new words to make it more grammatically complete

Play routines
  Pennington et al., 2009 a. It Takes Two to Talk Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) strategies to facilitate child language development

  • (S) strategies to maximize child communication opportunities

Familiar activities & routines;
play routines
   Romski et al., 2010 a. Parent-Implemented Communication Intervention - Augmented Communication Input NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) model augmented and spoken word use of the individualized target vocabulary via an SGD

  • (S) avoid direct communication demands of the child

  • (S) provide the child with natural reinforcers

  • (S) shorten utterance length

  • (S) give child choice between two toys or books or snacks

  • (S) pause and slow interactions so that child has a chance to communicate

Mealtimes;
play routines;
shared book reading
b. Parent-Implemented Communication Intervention - Spoken communication NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) visually, verbally, and physically prompt child to produce augmented words for an individualized target set of vocabulary

  • (S) hand-over-hand prompting

  • (S) shorten utterance length

  • (S) give child choice between two toys or books or snacks

  • (S) pause and slow interactions so that child has a chance to communicate

Mealtimes;
play routines;
shared book reading
c. Augmented Communication Output NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) provide verbal and/or hand-over-hand prompts so that child produces communication using speech generating device.

  • (S) use of naturalistic routines

  • (S) use of environmental arrangement

  • (S) provide choices

  • (S) pause to “encourage” communication

Mealtimes;
play routines;
shared book reading
  Yang, 2016 a. Musical Bonds Program Sensory-based One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) facilitate parent–child interactions and synchrony during musical play

  • (S) expand musical play repertoire

  • (S) responsiveness to child: use of affect, behavioral and developmental matching, reciprocity, shared control, and contingency

Music time
 Autism
  Barrett et al., 2020 a. Pivotal Response Intervention for Social Motivation NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) use social activities as reinforcement

  • (S) noncontingent exposure

  • (S) high affect bids verbal prompts

  • (S) child attention

  • (S) child choice

  • (S) playful opportunity

  • (S) natural reinforcement

  • (S) contingency of reinforcement

  • (S) reinforcing attempts

Social activities
  Liu & Schertz, 2021 a. Joint Attention Mediated Learning NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S/I) mediated learning principles

  • (S) how to address child's social challenges

  • (S) how to distinguish social versus nonsocial acts

Familiar activities & routines;
play routines
   Rogers et al., 2019 a. Enhanced Parent-Implemented Early Start Denver Model NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) increasing child's attention and motivation

  • (S) using sensory social routines

  • (S) promoting dyadic engagement and joint activity routines

  • (S) enhancing nonverbal communication

  • (S) building imitation skills

  • (S) facilitating joint attention

  • (S) promoting speech development

  • (S) using antecedent behavior-consequence relationships (“ABC's of learning”)

  • (S) employing prompting, shaping, and fading techniques

  • (S) conducting functional assessment of behavior to develop new interventions

Familiar activities & routines;
mealtimes;
play routines;
shared book reading
b. Parent-Implemented Early Start Denver Model NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) increasing child's attention and motivation

  • (S) using sensory social routines

  • (S) promoting dyadic engagement and joint activity routines

  • (S) enhancing nonverbal communication

  • (S) building imitation skills

  • (S) facilitating joint attention

  • (S) promoting speech development

  • (S) using antecedent behavior-consequence relationships (“ABC's of learning”)

  • (S) employing prompting, shaping, and fading techniques

  • (S) conducting functional assessment of behavior to develop new interventions

Familiar activities & routines;
mealtimes;
Play routines;
shared book reading
  Rollins et al., 2019 a. Pathways NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) following child's lead, limiting of distractions, use of wait time

  • (S) face-to-face dyadic interactions and social sensory routines

  • (S) reinforcement of activities, with behaviors as reinforced immediately and consistently

  • (S) facilitation of social eye contact without aversive prompts

  • (S) use of animation

  • (S) contingent imitation of the child vocalizations, words, and gestures

  • (S) use of imitation, modeling, and expansion of language

Play routines
 Language delay/disorder
  Baxendale et al., 2003 a. Hanen Parent Program Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) strategies focused on enhancing parents' language and interaction style

Play routines
b. Conventional Clinic NDBI In-person
  • (S) modeling

  • (S) imitation

  • (S) expansion

  • (S) focusing attention through play

Play routines
  Ciccone et al., 2012 a. Parent-Focused Early Intervention Program NDBI Mixed: In-person
  • (S) following the child's lead

  • (S) encouraging participation

  • (S) language modelling strategies

  • (S) focused stimulation

  • (S) using music and using books

  Falkus et al., 2016 a. Parent–child Interaction Therapy Developmental One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) letting child choose toy

  • (S) following what child wants to do with toy

  • (S) sitting where child can easily see you

  • (S) waiting for child to start the talking with words/sounds/gestures

  • (S) giving child enough time to talk

  • (S) showing child you are listening by repeating or answering

  • (S) commenting on what child is doing

  • (S) not asking child questions

  • (S) praising child

  • (S) talking slowly so child understands

Familiar activities & routines;
play routines
  Gibbard & Smith, 2016 a. Enhanced Parent-Based Intervention Cannot be Determined Mixed: In-person
  • (S) strategies to facilitate language development through interaction, daily routines, naturally occurring situations and parenting activities

  • (I) increased awareness of role and importance in child's language development

Familiar activities & routines
  Girolametto et al., 1996 a. Hanen Program for Parents Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) incorporate 10 target words into existing daily routines

  • (S) repeat target word at least five times during each interaction

  • (S) join in the child's play

  • (S) model targets using labels, short comments, or expansions

  • (S) set up new routines to model target words in many different contexts using different exemplars

  • (S) select additional lexical targets once the child had used the target word spontaneously at least three times in three different situations within one week

  • (S) model two-word combinations

Familiar activities & routines
  McDade & McCartan, 1998 a. Hanen Program Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) interaction-promoting strategies: taking one turn and waiting expectantly for child to respond, signaling child nonverbally to take a turn

  • (S) language modeling strategies: responsive labels, comments, expansions, extensions, parallel talk

  • (S) child-oriented strategies: follow child's lead, interpret child's cues, respond to child's focus of attention, and reduce directiveness

Familiar activities & routines
  Pearce et al., 1996 a. Hanen Program for Parents Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) use target words in labels, comments, or expansions during naturalistic routines

  • (S) model target words in many different contexts

  • (S) use different exemplars

  • (S) express different intentions (e.g., request, comment)

Familiar activities & routines;
Play routines;
shared book reading
  Roberts & Kaiser, 2012 a. Parent-implemented Enhanced Milieu Teaching NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) use of modeling and expanding communication

  • (S) time delay strategies

  • (S) prompting strategies

Familiar activities & routines;
mealtimes;
play routines;
shared book reading
  Roberts & Kaiser, 2015 a. Enhanced Milieu Teaching NDBI Mixed: In-person
  • (S) Enhanced Milieu Teaching strategies

  • (S) promote language acquisition in everyday interactions

Familiar activities & routines
  Suttora et al., 2021 a. Oltre il Libro – Dialogic Book Reading NDBI Group: In-person
  • (S) turn-taking skills

  • (S) use of extra-verbal cues as intonation, rhythm, and gestures

  • (S) adjust speech to child's linguistic skills

  • (S) use simple sentences and redundant lexicon

  • (S) use open-ended, wh-questions

  • (S) focused stimulation on target words that are already understood but not produced by child

  • (S) expand child's verbal productions

shared book reading
   Tannock et al., 1992 a. Hanen Early Language Parent Program Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) interaction-promoting strategies: taking one turn and waiting expectantly for child to respond, signaling the child nonverbally to take a turn, avoid adult dominance of the interaction

  • (S) language-modeling strategies: responsive labels and comments, expansions, extensions, parallel talk

  • (S) child-oriented strategies: follow child's lead, interpret child's cues, respond to child's focus of attention, and reduce directiveness

36 through 48 months
 Developmental disorder
  Girolametto et al., 1998 a. Hanen Program Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) incorporating target words into existing daily routines

  • (S) using target words in response to the child's interest or activity

  • (S) join in child's play and model words using labels, short comments, or expansions

  • (S) use routines to model target words in many different contexts

  • (S) strategies to select target words

  • (S) model two-word combinations

Familiar activities & routines
  Girolametto, 1988 a. Hanen Early Language Parent Program Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) observe

  • (S) follow child's lead

  • (S) use play, games, art, books, and music

  • (S) respond contingently to child's communicative attempts

  • (S) promote turn taking

  • (S) use conversational repair signals

  • (S) provide clear linguistic models

  • (I) increase awareness of the form, content, and use of child's communication system

Play routines
  Kaiser & Roberts, 2013 a. Parent + Therapist Enhanced Milieu Teaching NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) arrange environment to set stage for adult–child interactions

  • (S) model specific language targets appropriate to child's skill level

  • (S) expand child communication forms by adding words to child utterances

  • (S) respond to child's requests with prompts for elaborated language

  • (S) functional reinforcement of child's production of prompted target forms

Familiar activities & routines;
mealtimes;
play routines;
shared book reading
  Kot & Law, 1995 a. Parent Linguistic Input Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) increase frequency and saliency of linguistic input with relevance to child's focus of attention (word-mapping opportunities)

  Weistuch et al., 1991 a. Language Interaction Intervention Program – Site 1 Developmental Group: In-person
  • (S) how to help child form word categories

  • (S) use words across a range of communicative intents

  • (S) build from words to content categories that govern word combinations

b. Language Interaction Intervention Program – Site 2 Developmental Group: In-person
  • (S) how to help child form word categories

  • (S) use words across a range of communicative intents

  • (S) build from words to content categories that govern word combinations

 Autism
  Aldred et al., 2004 a. Social Communication Intervention Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) shared attention

  • (S) sensitivity

  • (S) modelling

  • (S) consolidation

  • (S) elaboration

  Alquraini et al., 2018 a. Responsive Teaching NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) contingency

  • (S) affect

  • (S) match

Play routines
  Braiden et al., 2012 a. Forward Steps Early Intervention Program with Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) Approach TEACCH One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) visual cues

  • (I) understanding child's autism

  Casenhiser et al., 2013 a. Milton & Ethel Harris Research Initiative Developmental In-person
  • (S) co-regulation

  • (S) expression of enjoyment of child

  • (S) sensory-motor supports

  • (S) joining

  • (S) use of affect

  • (S) support of reciprocity

  • (S) support of independent thinking

  Green et al., 2010 a. Preschool Autism Communication Trial Developmental One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) increase sensitivity and responsiveness to child communication

  • (S) reduce mistimed parental responses

  • (S) use action routines

  • (S) use familiar repetitive language

  • (S) pause

  Hampton et al., 2020 a. Joint Attention, Structured Play, Engagement and Regulation plus Enhanced Milieu Teaching plus Speech-Generating Device NDBI One-on-one: In-person
  • (S) matched turns

  • (S) target-level language

  • (S) expansions

  • (S) time delays

  • (S) milieu prompting

  • (S) engagement and play strategies

  • (S) using joint attention and gestures

Familiar activities & routines;
mealtimes;
play routines;
shared book reading
  Ingersoll & Wainer, 2013 a. Project ImPACT NDBI Mixed: In-person
  • (S) use a blend of developmental and naturalistic behavioral intervention strategies

  • (S) promote child's social engagement

  • (S) promote language

  • (S) use imitation

  • (S) use strategies in play and daily routines

Familiar activities & routines
   Ingersoll et al., 2016 a. Therapist-Assisted ImPACT Group NDBI One-on-one: Self-paced tutorials
  • (S) targets social communication using a naturalistic, developmental-behavioral intervention

b. Self-Directed ImPACT Group NDBI One-on-one: Self-paced tutorials
  • (S) targets social communication using a naturalistic, developmental-behavioral intervention

  Matthews et al., 2018 a. JumpStart Behavioral Mixed: In-person
  • (S/I) applied behavior analysis

  • (S/I) pivotal response treatment

  • (S/I) disruptive behaviors

  • (S/I) toilet training

  • What is autism?

  • accessing services

  • (I) Individualized Education Plans

  McGarry et al., 2020 a. Pivotal Response Training NDBI One-on-one: Self-paced tutorials
  • (S) set up a learning opportunity PRT strategies: child choice/shared control, clear learning opportunities, interspersing maintenance and acquisition tasks

  • (S) respond to child's language PRT strategies: natural reinforcers, reinforcing attempts, immediate/contingent reinforcement

  • (S) choose a treatment plan identifying a developmentally appropriate target skill

  • (S) use model, open-ended, and time-delay prompts

  • (S) using social reinforcers Incorporating child interests within social activities

Familiar activities & routines;
play routines
  Minjarez et al., 2011 a. Pivotal Response Training NDBI Mixed: In-person
  • (S/I) Pivotal Response Training

Play routines
  Noyan Erbas et al., 2020 a. Hanen More Than Words Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) follow child's lead

  • (S) strategies to keep interactions going

  • (S) observe, wait, and listen to child

  • (S) how to help child learn daily routines

  • (S) how to use strategies to teach toy play

  • (S) how to help child with peer interactions

  • (S) how to use books for interaction

  • (S) how to transfer newly learned interaction skills to practical applications with child in daily environment

Familiar activities & routines;
play routines
  Sengupta et al., 2020 a. Project ImPACT NDBI Mixed: In-person; texts & emails
  • (S) follow child's lead

  • (S) face to face

  • (S) imitate child

  • (S) join in child's play and make interactive

  • (S) use animation

  • (S) model and expand child's language

  • (S) use communicative temptations to create opportunities for communication and increase social

  • engagement

  • (S) prompts and reinforcement to increase complexity of child's response

  • (S) taking turns during play

  • (I) stages of play

Familiar activities & routines
  Venker et al., 2012 a. Hanen More Than Words Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) be verbally responsive by talking about child's play (follow-in commenting)

  • (S) respond to child's communication acts using linguistic mapping and expansions

  • (S) use of strategies to engage child in play: establishing play routines and supporting object-focused engagement

  • (S) prompt communication: arrange environment with favored items in sight but out of reach, provide choices, give pieces of toys bit by bit, and insert pauses during familiar verbal routines

  • (S) strategies to establish interactive “people games” that provide child with predictable social turn-taking routines

  • (S) decrease redirects of child's attention away from a toy of interest

Play routines
  Wainer et al., 2021 a. Stepped-care Online Reciprocal Imitation Training NDBI One-on-one: Self-paced tutorial; telehealth/video conferencing coaching
  • (S) select activities and antecedent controls

  • (S) schedule practice time

  • (S) ensure a support system

  • (S) imitate child

  • (S) describing play using linguistic mapping, simple and descriptive language at or slightly above child's linguistic level

  • (S) use modeling, prompting, and reinforcement to teach a target skill, and pace the interaction

Play routines
 Language delay/disorder
   Tannock et al., 1992 a. Hanen Early Language Parent Program Developmental Mixed: In-person
  • (S) interaction-promoting strategies: taking one turn and waiting expectantly for child to respond, signaling the child nonverbally to take a turn, avoid adult dominance of the interaction

  • (S) language-modeling strategies: responsive labels and comments, expansions, extensions, parallel talk

  • (S) child-oriented strategies: follow child's lead, interpret child's cues, respond to child's focus of attention, and reduce directiveness

Note. Only studies where the language intervention group had promising or compelling evidence are included in the table. Em dashes indicate data not reported. NDBI = naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention; TEACCH = Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children; ImPACT = Improving Parents as Communication Teachers.