This study evaluated whether the It Takes Two to Talk® Program is effective when implemented at scale and within real-world clinical conditions. The study assessed the outcomes of families from diverse linguistic and economic backgrounds.

50% of families spoke a language other than English (the language in which It Takes Two to Talk was delivered) and 50% of the parents were either unemployed or employed in part-time or casual positions. Data were collected at four intervals: pre-program; during the program; post-program and three months post-program.

Participants

• It Takes Two to Talk (experimental) group

  241 children with language delays (average age 30 months) and their parents

• Control group

  There was no control group for this study. Outcomes were compared with general developmental, normed data.

Results & Key Findings

Children demonstrated significant gains in their expressive language abilities following participation in It Takes Two to Talk.

• The It Takes Two to Talk group showed medium-to-large effect sizes in expressive vocabulary on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MCDI).

• The average length of children’s three longest reported utterances increased to the range for age-matched typically developing children.

Both children and parents demonstrated large and significant gains in their interaction skills following participation in It Takes Two to Talk.

• Increases in interaction skills were maintained at three months post-intervention.

Without any adaptations, It Takes Two to Talk resulted in improved language development of children from demographically diverse backgrounds.

• Results show stable gains across participants’ SES groups and home language environments.