Assignment: Strategy Dependent Variables.

Assignment: Strategy Dependent Variables.

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Assignment: Strategies and Dependent Variables.

LAPE strategy/description Corresponding dependent variable

Wait and respond. Wait for your child to communicate and then respond accordingly.

Responsivity (RE) = Number of times the adult responded to child’s words or actions / Number of spoken adult turns

Talk in short, simple sentences. When talking directly to your child, use sentences your child would be likely to say.

Target Level Talk (TLT) = Number of utterances spoken by the adult within 1–3 words of child’s identified MLU / Number of spoken adult utterances

Answer instead of asking. Avoid asking yes/no and “test” questions (e.g., What color is this? How many do you have?).

Questions (Q) = Number of adult yes/no questions + test questions / Number of spoken adult utterances

Repeat and add. When your child says a word or sentence, repeat what s/he said and add a word.

Expansions (EXP) = Number of times the adult expanded child’s utterance by adding a new and related word, phoneme, or grammatical marker.

Do what your child does and talk about it. Imitate your child’s actions, and say what s/he would say.

Verbal Mapping (VM) = Number of times the adult imitated child’s nonverbal action and added a word or sentence.

Say what your child would say. Respond to your child’s spontaneous requests/comments by saying the word/words your child might say in a way that encourages/prompts her/him to imitate you.

Incidental Teaching (IT) = Number of times the adult responded to the child’s communication attempt by saying a word the child might say and Model (M) = Number of times the adult modeled the name of an object or action with the intention that the child would imitate it.

Give your child a choice. Say the words for the items as you provide choices, such as “do you want milk or juice?”

Forced Choice (FC) = number of times the adult verbally gave a choice between 2 or more objects.

Environmental Arrangement. Give your child more opportunities to communicate by setting up situations where your child wants/needs to (e.g., Ask for more of something, Seek your assistance, Comment on something new or silly).

These were not coded, but were designed to create opportunities for communicative interactions and promote the child’s initiations.

Note. Due to low frequency of occurrence, the following related variables were combined into one variable, titled other language-enhancing behaviors (O-LEBs) = EXP + VM + IT + FC + M / Number of total spoken adult utterances. LAPE = Language and Play Everyday.

Moore et al. 217

group sessions. Based on this discussion, the parent chose two strategies to focus on during the remainder of the visit (e.g., say what your child would say, target level talk). The coach and parent discussed the strategies and the coach modeled use of the strategies. Then, the parent initiated a routine (e.g., mealtime, diapering) or a play activity (e.g., book reading, playing with toys) with their toddler and practiced the strategies for 5 to 10 min. Following the activ- ity, the coach encouraged the parent to self-reflect on her or his use of the targeted strategies. For example, the coach might have asked the parent to talk about what went well during the routine and what was difficult. Then, the coach provided specific, performance-based feedback (e.g., “When you used just two words to say “hat on” he imitated you!” or “Wow. You were really responsive when he walked into the playroom. You followed and resumed your play there.” Or “When you waited for her to initiate pulling on her pants, she said ‘help’!”). At the beginning of each subsequent visit, the coach and parent had a general discus- sion about the child’s language progress and his or her use of the LAPE strategies at home. The parent then identified

two strategies (previously learned in group sessions) to focus on during the visit, practiced the strategies, reflected, and received feedback (as described above). Before the end of the visit, the coach and parent set up a plan for practicing all LAPE strategies during the family’s daily routines at home.

In-between session practice. As previously mentioned, at the end of each group and individual session, the parents identi- fied when and how they planned to practice the LAPE strat- egies at home and wrote their ideas on a weekly LAPE strategy log. After the first home coaching session, parents were asked to practice the strategies 15 min per day during routine and play activities with their children and rate their progress on their weekly logs.

Evaluation Procedures

Toddler standardized measures. To fully describe the partici- pants before intervention, two assessments were adminis- tered with each toddler (see Table 2). The Preschool

Table 4. LAPE Parent Group Session Content.

Sessiona New content Method Review from previous session Method