Empower EI: Comparing Early Intervention Approaches to Improve Communication in Toddlers With Developmental Delays

April 23, 2026 updated by: Megan Roberts, Northwestern University

This study is testing three ways to deliver Early Intervention (EI) services for toddlers with developmental disabilities (DD).

Children enrolled in EI speech therapy will receive one of three approaches:

  1. Therapist Delivered EI: For 28 weeks, the child's speech therapist will work directly with the child to support their communication.
  2. Caregiver Coaching EI: For 28 weeks, the child's speech therapist will coach the caregiver on how to support their child's communication.
  3. Combined EI Approach + Parent-Led Education Program: For 14 weeks, the caregiver will take part in a parent-led education program while the speech therapist works directly with the child to support their communication. During the next 14 weeks, the speech therapist will coach the caregiver on how to support their child's communication.

The goal of this study is to identify which approaches are most effective so that all families can benefit fully from EI services.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

High-quality Early Intervention (EI) during the first three years of life, a period of heightened neuroplasticity, is critical to improving outcomes for children with developmental disabilities (DD). There are two EI approaches that may be effective for supporting child communication and improving family outcomes: 1) caregiver coaching, in which the EI therapist teaches the caregiver strategies to help their child's communication, and 2) caregiver psychoeducation, in which a peer mentor teaches the caregiver about skills and resources that are helpful in supporting their child and family.

The aim of the current clinical trial is to determine which EI approaches are most effective, for which families, and why they are effective. This clinical trial also aims to investigate how therapists are delivering the interventions and to characterize the acceptability and feasibility of these interventions for use in real-world settings.

A total of 1,269 toddlers (approximately equal numbers of Black, Latine, and white children) will be enrolled across community-based EI sites. Families will be directly recruited from participating EI therapists' existing caseloads. Caregiver-child dyads will be randomly assigned to one of three groups:

  1. Therapist Delivered EI: For 28 weeks, the child's speech therapist will work directly with the child to support their communication.
  2. Caregiver Coaching EI: For 28 weeks, the child's speech therapist will coach the caregiver on how to support their child's communication.
  3. Combined EI Approach + Parents Taking Action: For 14 weeks, the caregiver will take part in a parent-led education program (Parents Taking Action) while the speech therapist works directly with the child to support their communication. During the next 14 weeks, the speech therapist will coach the caregiver on how to support their child's communication.

Outcomes will assess both caregiver and child domains, including caregiver use of responsive strategies, caregiver capacity to support the child's needs, and child social communication. The study will also examine moderators (e.g., race) and mediators (e.g., caregiver use of responsive strategies) to identify for whom and why each approach is most effective.

A process evaluation will assess implementation fidelity (quality, dosage, adaptations) and explore how fidelity influences effectiveness outcomes. Feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of each approach will be evaluated through surveys and interviews with caregivers and EI therapists.

This study is among the first large-scale comparative effectiveness trials of early intervention approaches conducted in real-world EI settings. Findings will inform EI practices and guide caregivers, therapists, and policymakers in selecting interventions that best meet the needs and preferences of diverse families.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
1269

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Evanston, Illinois, United States, 60201
        • Recruiting
        • Northwestern University
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Megan Roberts, PhD
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Child Inclusion Criteria:

  • At least 12 months old
  • At least 7 months of Early Intervention (EI) service eligibility remaining
  • Enrolled in the Illinois EI system and is new to the speech-language pathologist's (SLP's) caseload (i.e., no prior EI speech-language therapy experience with the SLP)
  • Plans to receive one hour of speech-language therapy per week in the home or in a private space outside of the home

Child Exclusion Criteria:

- Exposed to a language other than English or Spanish more than 10% of the time

Caregiver Inclusion Criteria:

  • The child's parent, legal guardian, or other family member
  • Self-identifies as Black, Latine (Hispanic), or white
  • Available to participate in weekly EI sessions and study assessments.

Caregiver Exclusion Criteria

  • Younger than 18 years old at enrollment
  • Uses a language other than English or Spanish during their interactions with the child more than 10% of the time

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Therapist-Delivered Early Intervention Approach
For 28 weeks, this arm will receive the therapist-delivered early intervention approach.
Behavioral: Therapist-Delivered Early Intervention Approach
The therapist-delivered early intervention approach will occur during the child's weekly, hour-long early intervention (EI) sessions. During the sessions, the child's EI speech-language pathologist (SLP) will use responsive strategies directly with the child. Responsive strategies focus on noticing the child's communication and responding with language related to their focus of attention. The SLP will not coach the caregiver during the sessions.
Experimental: Caregiver Coaching Early Intervention Approach
For 28 weeks, this arm will receive the caregiver coaching early intervention approach.
Behavioral: Caregiver Coaching Early Intervention Approach
The caregiver-coaching early intervention approach will occur during the child's weekly, hour-long early intervention (EI) sessions. During the sessions, the child's EI speech-language pathologist (SLP) will coach the caregiver to use responsive strategies with their child. Responsive strategies focus on noticing the child's communication and responding with language related to their focus of attention.
Experimental: Combined Early Intervention Approach + Parents Taking Action
For the first 14 weeks, this arm will receive the therapist-delivered early intervention as well as Parents Taking Action. For the following 14 weeks, this arm will receive the caregiver coaching early intervention approach.
Behavioral: Therapist-Delivered Early Intervention Approach
The therapist-delivered early intervention approach will occur during the child's weekly, hour-long early intervention (EI) sessions. During the sessions, the child's EI speech-language pathologist (SLP) will use responsive strategies directly with the child. Responsive strategies focus on noticing the child's communication and responding with language related to their focus of attention. The SLP will not coach the caregiver during the sessions.
Behavioral: Caregiver Coaching Early Intervention Approach
The caregiver-coaching early intervention approach will occur during the child's weekly, hour-long early intervention (EI) sessions. During the sessions, the child's EI speech-language pathologist (SLP) will coach the caregiver to use responsive strategies with their child. Responsive strategies focus on noticing the child's communication and responding with language related to their focus of attention.
Behavioral: Parents Taking Action
Parents Taking Action (PTA) will be delivered during weekly, one-hour virtual sessions with the caregiver, separate from the child's early intervention (EI) sessions. PTA is a psychoeducation program implemented by a peer mentor (i.e., a culturally-matched caregiver of a child with a developmental disability). During the sessions, the peer mentor will provide information and guidance on a range of topics (e.g., child development, early intervention systems, special education rights/resources, and advocacy) following a structured curriculum.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Family Outcomes Survey - Revised
Time Frame: Week 14, Week 28
The Family Outcomes Survey-Revised is a 24-item informant-report questionnaire that assesses caregivers' understanding, confidence, and ability to support their child's needs. The Family Outcomes Total Score (Min = 24, Max = 120) reflects the caregiver's capacity to support their child's needs, with higher scores indicating greater capacity.
Week 14, Week 28
Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales - Developmental Profile (CSBS-DP)
Time Frame: Week 28
The Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales - Developmental Profile (CSBS-DP) is a structured, norm-referenced, observational measure of child communication. The assessment is scored for 20 items across 7 domains (i.e., Emotion and Eye Gaze, Communication, Gestures, Sounds, Words, Understanding, Object Use). The weighted raw scores for each of the 7 domains are grouped into 3 clusters (social, speech, and symbolic) and combined into a total raw score (min = 0; max = 113). Higher scores indicate better skills.
Week 28
Responsive Strategy Use (RSU) Rating Scale
Time Frame: Week 14, Week 28
The Responsive Strategy Use (RSU) Rating Scale will be used to measure caregivers' use of responsive strategies during a naturalistic, caregiver-child interaction. Items on the RSU Rating Scale are rated on a 5-point Likert Scale (1 = Rarely/Never, 5 = Consistently) and averaged to yield the RSU Total Score (Min = 1, Max = 5), with higher scores reflecting a higher frequency of responsive strategy use.
Week 14, Week 28

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Session Attendance
Time Frame: Week 1 to Week 28
Session attendance will be documented in weekly session logs completed by interventionists and summarized as the percentage of planned intervention sessions attended by each family (Min = 0%, Max = 100%).
Week 1 to Week 28
Intervention Fidelity Checklist
Time Frame: Week 1 to Week 28
The Intervention Fidelity Checklist is a rating scale assessing adherence to the intervention protocol. Items on the checklist correspond to the core elements of the respective intervention protocol and are scored based on specific behavioral criteria. The Intervention Fidelity Checklist will be scored on a randomly selected 20% of intervention sessions per participant. Scores will be averaged across sessions to yield an average intervention quality score (Min = 0, Max = 100), with higher scores indicating higher intervention quality.
Week 1 to Week 28
Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications (FRAME)
Time Frame: Week 1 to Week 28
The Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications (FRAME) will be used to document intervention adaptations. Adaptations will be documented through intervention session logs and direct observations of intervention sessions. These data will yield the total number of adaptations (Min = 0, Max = NA).
Week 1 to Week 28

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Early Intervention Program Satisfaction Scale
Time Frame: Week 14, Week 28
An adapted version of the Early Intervention Program Satisfaction Scale, a caregiver-report questionnaire, will be used to assess caregiver satisfaction. This survey includes 6 items rated on a 5-point Likert (1 = Very Dissatisfied, 5 = Very Satisfied). The Total Score (Min = 6, Max = 30) reflects caregivers' overall satisfaction with the intervention, with higher scores representing greater satisfaction.
Week 14, Week 28

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Northwestern University

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Megan Roberts, PhD, Northwestern University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 16, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 1, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 11, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 11, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 13, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 29, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 23, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • BPS-2024C1-38924

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified individual participant data (IPD) that underlie the results reported in any publication arising from this trial will be made publicly available via the Dryad repository. The shared dataset will include all variables necessary to reproduce the published findings, including treatment assignment, participant demographics, baseline characteristics, and outcome measures. All data will be de-identified in accordance with HIPAA standards and institutional policies to protect participant confidentiality.

Data will be uploaded to Dryad after publication of the primary results, and will be freely accessible to qualified researchers without restriction. A corresponding DOI will be provided in publications to facilitate data access and citation.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Data will be uploaded to the Dryad data repository on November 1st, 2030 and remain there indefinitely.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

De-identified individual participant data (IPD) and supporting documentation (e.g., data dictionaries, survey instruments, codebooks) will be publicly available to any researcher or member of the public. All data will be uploaded to the Dryad Digital Repository, where users can freely access and download the datasets. No special request or application will be required to access the IPD. The data will be shared in a de-identified format to protect participant privacy, and users will be able to access the IPD along with associated documentation necessary to understand and use the data for secondary analyses or replication studies.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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Conditions

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