A Telepractice Parent Training Study for Facilitating Speech and Language Development in Preschool Children with Cleft Palate

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of parent training in the Enhanced Milieu Teaching with Phonological Emphasis (EMT+PE) intervention program, using telepractice, on parent strategy use and child speech and language outcomes for children with repaired cleft palate with or without lip (CP/L). Four parent child dyads participated in the study. Child participants ranged in age from 28 to 53 months at the beginning of intervention and all had a diagnosis of nonsyndromic CP/L. Participants received two-to-three parent training sessions and twice weekly telepractice intervention sessions. Parents increased their use of EMT+PE strategies throughout intervention with the Modeling and Expansion and Prompting and Recasting strategies resulting in significant intervention effects. Moreover, parents maintained increased strategy use following the conclusion of direct intervention. A positive improvement in child speech and language outcomes was seen across intervention. This study showed that telepractice is an effective service delivery model for parent training and subsequent intervention session in EMT+PE strategy use to support the speech and language development for children with CP/L.