The effects of enhanced milieu teaching with phonological emphasis on the speech and language skills of young children with cleft palate: A pilot study

Ann P. Kaiser*, Nancy J. Scherer, Jennifer R. Frey, Megan Y. Roberts

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the extent to which a naturalistic communication intervention, enhanced milieu teaching with phonological emphasis (EMT+ PE), improved the language and speech outcomes of toddlers with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P). Method: Nineteen children between 15 and 36 months (M = 25 months) with nonsyndromic CL/P and typical cognitive development were randomly assigned to a treatment (EMT+ PE) or nontreatment, business-as-usual (BAU), experimental condition. Participants in the treatment group received forty-eight 30-min sessions, biweekly during a 6-month period. Treatment was delivered in a university clinic by trained speech language pathologists; fidelity of treatment was high across participants. Results: Children in the treatment group had significantly better receptive language scores and a larger percentage of consonants correct than children in the BAU group at the end of intervention. Children in the treatment group made greater gains than children in the BAU group on most language measures; however, only receptive language, expressive vocabulary (per parent report), and consonants correct were significant. Conclusions: The results of this preliminary study indicate that EMT+PE is a promising early intervention for young children with CL/P. Replication with a larger sample and long-term follow-up measures are needed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)806-818
Number of pages13
JournalAmerican journal of speech-language pathology
Volume26
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017

Funding

This research was supported by the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders and by support to the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences UL1 TR000445. This research was conducted at Vanderbilt University and East Tennessee State University.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Speech and Hearing
  • Otorhinolaryngology
  • Linguistics and Language

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