The effect of telepractice on vocal turn-taking between a provider, children with cochlear implants, and caregivers: A preliminary report.

Objectives: To examine the effect of telepractice on vocal turn-taking between one clinical provider and children with cochlear implants and their caregivers during child-centered auditory rehabilitation intervention.

Methods: Seven dyads of children with cochlear implants (mean age 4:11 years) and their hearing mothers and one speech-language pathologist participated together in a telepractice session and an in-person intervention session. Dependent variables were vocalization rate, turn taking rate, rate of speech overlap per second, and between-speaker pause duration.

Results: The speech-language pathologist and children had lower rates of vocalization in the telepractice session than the in-person session. However, maternal vocalization rate was higher in the telepractice than in-person session. The rate of turn-taking between the provider and children was lower in telepractice than in-person sessions but the rate of turn taking between mothers and children was higher in telepractice than in-person sessions. Between-speaker pause duration between children and the provider and between mothers and children was longer in telepractice than in-person sessions. Rate of speech overlap did not vary significantly by session type.

Discussion: The quantity and temporal characteristics of vocal turn-taking were impacted by remote communication during tele-intervention suggesting a potential increase in the cognitive effort required of participants.