Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of family-centered therapy on caregiver’s use of language expansion during parent-child interactions in naturalistic environments with children of early intervention age, specifically under three years old. Family-centered therapy, or parent coaching, included the practices of observation, demonstration, guided practice, feedback, and reflection. Method: Two parent child dyads participated in this A-B-B single subject design. Both children were under 3-years old for the duration of the investigation and participated with a biological parent. Participants received three to five intervention sessions that provided parent coaching specific to the use of language expansion. Parent coaching was comprised of observation, demonstration, guided practice, feedback, and reflection. Data was calculated to determine the number of times the caregivers used language expansion in response to 20 spontaneous utterances made by their child during sessions. Results: Both participants increased their use of language expansion during the intervention phase which was evident by 100%. Percentage of nonoverlapping data (PND) from baseline to intervention. Participants maintained their use fo language expansion at a frequency greater than was found at baseline. Conclusion: Family-centered therapy positively impacted caregivers use of language expansion during their spontaneous interactions with their children of the early intervention age. This study adds to the growing body of research that supports parent-coaching in natural environments for children under three.
