Simplified language input (Andary et al., 2025)

Purpose: Caregivers of children in early intervention (EI) are commonly taught to simplify their speech, yet there is little research on caregivers’ perspectives on recommended simplification strategies. We explored caregivers’ opinions about using shortened and telegraphic speech and examined what caregiver and child characteristics are associated with caregiver views on simplified linguistic input.

Method: Seventy-seven caregivers of children in EI completed an online survey on caregivers’ perspectives on the language input provided to children with language delays. Using Likert scales, caregivers indicated their beliefs regarding speaking in shortened utterances (i.e., utterances with very few words) and telegraphic input (i.e., utterances that include content words such as nouns and verbs but remove function words and grammatical markings). In addition, caregivers were asked to rate the importance of a number of different factors (i.e., receptive language, expressive language, age, cognitive abilities, and diagnosis) when deciding how to speak to their children.

Results: Caregivers reported a range of views, with few feeling neutral about shortened utterances or telegraphic input. Overall, caregivers perceived telegraphic utterances as less beneficial than shortened utterances. Caregivers with less formal education had a more positive view of telegraphic utterances compared to those with more formal education. Caregivers rated receptive language as the most important factor when deciding how to speak to a child.

Conclusions: Caregivers of children in EI have differing views about simplified language input. Practitioners should provide a clear rationale and discuss caregivers’ views about simplification approaches to better tailor their recommendations.

Supplemental Material S1. Full survey.

Andary, J., Nylund-Hackbarth, M., Lorang, E., Walsh, B., Douglas, S. N., & Venker, C. E. (2025). How caregivers of children in early intervention feel about simplified language input. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_AJSLP-24-00380