Getting to the Point: Examining Associations Between Adult Interactional Strategies and Infant Gestures.

The developmental importance of infant gesture use is well established, yet few investigations examine what adults can do to facilitate infant gestures. We used an event lag with pauses sequential analysis to generate an index of association between each adult interactional strategy and deictic infant gesture during ten-minute play interactions with 27 typically developing infants (11-25 months) and trained interventionists. We ran correlations to examine potential relationships between the sequential associations, child age, and language scores.

Examining the Family-Centeredness of Speech-Language Pathologists Working With Children Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

Purpose: Family-professional partnerships are important for youth learning to use aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). This study examined the family-oriented beliefs and practices of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working with preschool and school-aged children learning to use aided AAC (aged 3-21 years), specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: Participants were 25 SLPs who participated in an individual semistructured interview.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Contextual Determinants of the Parent-Speech-Language Pathologist Partnership.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant changes for family-professional interactions. Many services shifted to telepractice, with new opportunities for parents and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to partner for service delivery. Parent-coached models of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention provide positive outcomes for children; however, SLPs have reported difficulty building strong partnerships with families.

Development of an Individualized Responsive Feeding Intervention-Learning Early Infant Feeding Cues: Protocol for a Nonrandomized Study.

Background: Responsive infant feeding occurs when a parent recognizes the infant's cues of hunger or satiety and responds promptly to these cues. It is known to promote healthy dietary patterns and infant weight gain and is recommended as part of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. However, the use of responsive infant feeding can be challenging for many parents.

The BabyTok Project: Examining the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Light-Touch Social Media Project for Infant-Toddler Teachers.

Unlabelled: High-quality early care and education is a known protective factor for infants and toddlers who experience early childhood poverty, especially for early communication outcomes. However, the quality of care is variable in the United States, and efforts to increase the quality of interactions is impeded by cost and high rates of turnover in the field. In this paper, we explore a low-cost, light touch social media intervention that uses the TikTok platform to increase infant-toddler teachers' (ITTs) knowledge of early communication and social interactions while validating the important role that ITTs play in the lives of young children.

Augmentative and alternative communication services during the COVID-19 pandemic: impact on children, their families and service providers.

The closure of schools and healthcare facilities across the United States due to COVID-19 has dramatically changed the way that services are provided to children with disabilities. Little is known about how children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), their families and their service providers have been impacted by these changes. This qualitative study sought to understand the perspectives of parents and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) on how COVID-19 has affected children, families, services providers and the delivery of AAC-related communication services.

State of the Practice of Team Science in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate engagement in collaborative research (team science) and perceptions of related knowledge and skills to inform personnel preparation and workforce development efforts. Method A questionnaire was used to solicit information about the team science-related experiences of 220 doctoral students, faculty, and research scientists in speech-pathology and audiology. Additionally, the questionnaire surveyed participants' perceptions of readiness, benefits, and challenges to team science.

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- and .

Rates of Prelinguistic Communication and Early Symbol Use in Young Children With Down Syndrome: Using a Progress-Monitoring Tool to Model Growth.

Purpose This study aims to provide descriptive data on rates of expressive communication skill use in young children with Down syndrome (DS) across early childhood. Children with DS are known to have delays in expressive communication, but there are little current data on rates of communication in early skills, such as gestures, vocalizations, words, and word combinations. In addition, few studies use measures that offer a composite or "across-skills" view of early development across time.