Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2013 Apr;56(2):679-93.
doi: 10.1044/1092-4388(2012/12-0061). Epub 2012 Dec 28.

Is more better? Milieu communication teaching in toddlers with intellectual disabilities

Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Is more better? Milieu communication teaching in toddlers with intellectual disabilities

Marc E Fey et al. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2013 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: The authors sought to determine whether a program of 5 weekly doses of milieu communication teaching (MCT) would yield improvements in children's communication and word use compared with a once-weekly delivery of the same treatment.

Method: Sixty-four children with intellectual and communication delay were randomly assigned to receive 60-min sessions of MCT either 1 time or 5 times per week over a 9-month treatment. Growth curves were fit to data collected at 5 points before, during, and after the MCT was delivered.

Results: With groups collapsed, significant growth across the experimental period was observed on all measures, but this was not associated unconditionally with treatment intensity. Children who played with 9 or more objects during a standard play assessment, an empirically identified cut-point, benefited more from the high- than from the low-intensity treatment on lexical measures (Hedges's g range = .49 to .65).

Conclusions: More MCT is not always better for all children. Clinicians can expect that increasing the frequency of MCT sessions will yield moderate enhancement of outcomes if the child has high interest in objects.

Keywords: children; communication; developmental disorders; early intervention; efficacy; intervention; language disorders.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participant recruitment, enrollment, randomized allocation to either low-intensity (LI) or high-intensity intervention group (HI), and retention. Bayley–III SS = Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition, standard score.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Growth curves for number of words spoken for four prototypical children who vary by intensity level (i.e., LI, or HI) and initial object interest (i.e., number of objects chosen for functional play). MCDI = MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Abidin RR. Parenting Stress Index. 3rd ed. Psychological Assessment Resources; Odessa, FL: 1995.
    1. Aiken LS, West SG. Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Sage; Newbury Park, CA: 1991.
    1. Al Otaiba S, Schatschneider C, Silverman E. Tutor-assisted intensive learning strategies in kindergarten: How much is enough? Exceptionality. 2005;13(4):195–208.
    1. Barrett J, Littlejohns P, Thompson J. Trial of intensive compared with weekly speech therapy in preschool children. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1992;67:106–108. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bayley N. Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. Third Edition PsychCorp; San Antonio, TX: 2006.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources