Effectiveness of Early Parent-Based Language Intervention

The purpose of the study is to examine the effectiveness of a highly-structured parent-based language intervention group program for two-year-old children with language delay.

Language delay in toddlers is a prevalent problem for pediatric practitioners. As there are no clear guidelines to deal with this problem, in German speaking countries the "wait-and-see"approach is widely chosen, although longitudinal studies have found that children with language delay are at risc for cognitive, behavioral and social-emotional problems. During the last few years various forms of early language intervention have been increasingly implemented in German speaking countries. However, they have not been evaluated. Early parent-based intervention could be an economical way in prevention speech and language disorders.