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Exploring Language Use Within A Parent-Mediated Intervention For Children Exhibiting Social Communication Difficulties, Emily Garza, Ashleigh Kellerman, Christi Masters, A.J. Schwichtenberg

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

For infants/toddlers experiencing social communication difficulties, parent-mediated interventions (PMI) are the current field standard to promote development within a natural context. Previous research highlights the importance for parents to scaffold language learning opportunities beyond clinical settings to maximize children’s potential. However, for infants/toddlers exhibiting social communication-based difficulties currently enrolled in a family routines-based PMI, less is known about the individual contributions of communication between child and parent in order to promote optimal language development.

The present study expands our understanding of children’s communication by examining whether (1)children exhibit language impairments at enrollment; (2)whether observed mother-child communication during play increases following …