Parent-child nonverbal engagement during read versus sung book-sharing in preschoolers with and without ASD

Providing natural opportunities that scaffold interpersonal engagement is important for supporting social interactions for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Musical activities are often motivating, familiar, and predictable, and may support both children and their interaction partners by providing opportunities for shared social engagement. We assessed multiple facets of nonverbal social engagement—child and caregiver visual attention and interpersonal movement coordination—during musical (song) and non-musical (picture) book-sharing contexts in caregiver–child dyads of preschoolers with ( n = 13) and without ( n = 16) ASD. Overall, children with ASD demonstrated reduced visual attention during the book sharing activity, as well as reduced movement coordination with their caregivers, compared to children with typical development. Children in both diagnostic groups, as well as caregivers, demonstrated greater visual attention (gaze toward the activity and/or social partner) during song books compared to picture books. Visual attention behavior was correlated between children and caregivers in the ASD group but only in the song book condition. Findings highlight the importance of considering how musical contexts impact the behavior of both partners in the interaction. Musical activities may support social engagement by modulating the behavior of both children and caregivers.

Immediate effect of dialogic reading on interactive quality of book sharing among Chinese preschool mother–child dyads

Shared book reading is often used as an educational tool to promote the development of children’s early language and literacy skills. This study aimed to describe and compare the linguistic features of parent–child interactions during two shared book-reading sessions among 45 children (aged 4–6 years old) and their mothers. The dyads were divided into 2 groups: the intervention group ( n = 25), and the control group ( n = 20). In the first reading session, mothers read with their children the way they were most comfortable with and as they would usually do at home. Before the second reading session, we provided a 30-minute intervention on strategies of dialogic reading to the intervention group. Both readings were video-recorded. Mothers completed home literacy environment questionnaires. The results showed that even for mothers who were initially very skillful at reading with their children, this immediate intervention promoted a number of aspects of interactivity between mothers and their children, namely, the number of utterances, completion, open-ended, closed and labeling questions, and type token ratio by mothers, the number of utterances and initiated talk by children, and extra-textual talk and total number of turns by both mother and child. Mothers who received the intervention demonstrated more flexibility and more discursive styles, even though the intervention was short, and the time for them to practice was minimal.

Book Sharing With AAC Over Telepractice: A Tutorial

Telepractice offers speech-language pathologists (SLPs) increased flexibility to support language development, including emergent literacy in clients with complex communication needs. However, clinicians may feel uncertain how to pair books with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) over telepractice. Following an overview of telepractice, book sharing, and e-helpers, we describe four practical ways to combine storybooks with AAC online. These include: (a) using accessible books, (b) screen sharing e-books and communication aid, (c) adapting slide shows, and (d) creating asynchronous videos. Finally, we offer suggestions for modeling AAC, prioritizing emotions in storybooks, and tips for clinical supervisors. This topic can direct future researchers and is relevant to practicing clinicians who want to support language development for clients using aided communication systems.

The Individualization of the Little Talks Intervention: Implications for Modular Treatment Designs

Modular treatment designs enable interventionists to adapt intervention content to individual clients, a process referred to as individualization. Little is known about individualization processes and its effects on outcomes in early childhood services. This exploratory study investigated individualization processes undertaken by Early Head Start home visitors as they provided Little Talks, a modularized book-sharing intervention for families. It also examined the effect of individualization on parent involvement in early learning activities. Two indicators of individualization were calculated in this study: (a) the proportion of change in the Little Talks’ lessons sequence and (b) the pace of delivery. Findings showed that most home visitors individualized Little Talks, with the most frequent change being the repetition of lessons. Exploratory regression analysis showed an inverse relationship between home visitors’ individualization behavior and parent involvement, highlighting the need to examine the quality of individualization. Implications for advancing the implementation and study of individualization processes in home visiting are discussed.

Parental scaffolding during book-sharing predicts child general intelligence

While much variance in general intelligence or g is genetic, a substantial environmental component suggests a possible role for parent-child interaction. In particular, previous evidence suggests the importance of parental scaffolding, or provision of cognitive structure to shape child behaviour. A role for scaffolding is consistent with the proposal that, in adult cognition, a critical aspect of g is decomposition of complex problems into a structure of simpler parts. Building on previous work, we recruited 164 parents attending Children’s Centres with a child aged 2-4 years, and examined parental scaffolding during a book-sharing activity. Scaffolding was measured as the first principal component of a variety of parental behaviours, including sensitivity, focusing attention, extending comprehension, and promoting child participation. Child g was measured as the first principal component of a broad cognitive battery, including language, attention, working memory, and executive function. Importantly, we assessed contributions of the parent’s own intelligence, education, and family income. Though these variables were all associated with child g, their links to parental scaffolding were weaker, and scaffolding remained predictive of child g even once the influence of these variables was removed. In contrast to the correlation with cognitive proficiency, scaffolding did not predict child pro-social behaviour. We suggest that parental scaffolding supports the child’s development of a broad skill of attentional structuring, promoting the across-the-board cognitive proficiency that is reflected in g.

Read, speak, sing: Promoting early literacy in the health care setting

This statement will help health care providers assess and advise on early literacy with families in almost any practice setting. It defines emergent literacy skills, including early language learning and storytelling, and explores the benefits of reading, speaking, and singing with infants and toddlers for both children and caregivers. Book sharing at bedtime and other language-related routines positively affect family, relational, and social-emotional health. Early exposure to any language, when spoken at home, can benefit literacy learning in other languages children may encounter. Specific recommendations for clinicians counselling families on early literacy are included.

Coaching Childcare Providers to Support Toddlers' Gesture Use With Children Experiencing Early Childhood Poverty

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of an intervention in which childcare providers (CCPs) are coached to support toddlers' gesture use during every day classroom routines. Method This study uses a multiple-baseline across strategies single-case experimental design to examine the impact of a coaching intervention on three CCPs' use of communication strategies with toddlers experiencing early childhood poverty. The CCPs were coached with a systematic framework called Setting the Stage, Observation and Opportunities to Embed, Problem-solving and Planning, Reflection and Review as they learned to implement three strategies to support toddlers' gesture use— modeling gestures with a short phrase, opportunities to gesture, and responding/expanding child gestures . CCPs were coached during book sharing and another classroom routine of their choice. Social validity data on the coaching approach and on the intervention strategies were gathered from postintervention interviews. Results The visual analysis and nonoverlap of all pairs' effect size indicates that the coaching intervention had a functional relation with CCPs' use of modeling gestures and responding/expanding gestures during book sharing, play, and circle time. Social validity data indicate that CCPs found the coaching framework supportive of their learning and feelings of self-efficacy, and that the intervention strategies supported their toddlers' communication. Conclusions The coaching framework was used to increase CCP strategy use during everyday classroom routines with toddlers. CCPs endorsed the coaching approach and the intervention strategies. This study adds to the literature supporting efforts to enhance children's earliest language learning environments. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14044055