Honors Projects

Abstract

Caregivers play an essential role in supporting their child’s language development. Through everyday routines, caregivers have countless opportunities to foster strong language skills. Extensive research has examined the influence of caregiver input on language development. Comparatively little research has explored how historical trends in parenting advice across generations may shape caregivers’ use of language facilitation practices. The purpose of my honors project was to examine how generational parenting trends could inform the development of a clinic-to-home language facilitation resource. This resource was designed to help caregivers incorporate language facilitation strategies into everyday routines to increase language-rich interactions at home. A literature review explored historical parenting advice, caregiver beliefs over time, child language development, language facilitation strategies, caregiver stress, and educational resource design. Themes across the literature emphasized a shift toward collaborative, child-led interactions, supporting caregiver confidence, and increasing learning opportunities during everyday routines. These findings guided the development of my Responsivity Education Reflection Packet, a clinic-to-home caregiver guide designed to support caregiver confidence, promote healthy stress management, and provide an accessible educational resource. Future research should examine caregiver satisfaction, booklet usability, and the effectiveness in improving caregiver implementation of language facilitation strategies and communication outcomes in children.

Department

Honors Program

Major

Communication Sciences and Disorders

First Advisor

Dr. Colleen Fitzgerald

First Advisor Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Second Advisor

Dr. Wendy Watson

Second Advisor Department

Gerontology

Publication Date

Summer 8-3-2026

Additional Files
Copy of Honors Project 2 (1).pdf (9211 kB)
Responsivity Education Reflection Resource
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