ABSTRACT
The present study reported a life experience of a teacher family in Indonesia with a 4-year-old daughter. The observation occurred from March 2020 to July 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. This stay-at-home moment became an opportunity to create more parent-kid preschooler bonding and interaction that could impact the developing children language. Indonesian is our family native language (L1);therefore, the exposure started earlier for the kids. However, as parent-kid interaction was enhanced during the pandemic, we boosted our kid English (L2) with a variety of Edu-home activities such as reading aloud, storytelling, role-playing, and watching YouTube-kid. Her language production was documented, and the progress was analyzed. The aim was to generate a more profound understanding of our roles as parents in scaffolding the acceleration of preschoolers' English development, especially in creating meaningful activities. Going through an autoethnography, we reflect on our practice to know how the family members played the role of a language catalyst and which activities were taken more into account.
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The diagnostic characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes challenges in social communication skills. Among different components of social communication, language, particularly vocabulary, must be supported early in children's development as language is shown to be associated with academic, social, cognitive, and adaptive skills and their development trajectory. Enhanced milieu teaching (EMT) is one of evidence-based, naturalistic interventions that are designed to support the vocabulary development of young children with ASD. EMT is often implemented by caregivers, therapists, or teachers;however, there is no study that evaluated the effectiveness of sibling-implemented EMT on the vocabulary use of children with ASD. With the rise of COVID-19, there is an increased duration of family interactions at home which led to the need for more structured and effective strategies for social interactions, especially for children with ASD. As siblings frequently engage in social interactions such as play, training older siblings to facilitate effective communication and play with their younger siblings with ASD could improve the language development of children with ASD as well as the siblings' social interactions. Adapting a multiple probe design, the study examined the effects of sibling-implemented EMT with virtual performance feedback for the siblings without ASD on the siblings' implementation fidelity of EMT and language outcomes and percentage of responses by children with ASD. Generalization with a novel material and maintenance over one week, two weeks, or one month was measured. Social validity questionnaires were completed by the siblings and the caregivers after the intervention. The findings provide implications for family-centered evidence-based practices, particularly through the use of virtual training for family members including the siblings of children with ASD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The current study compares two evidence-based instructional methods for teaching students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) the skill of tacting. Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) is an applied behavior analysis technique utilized in various settings for teaching individuals with Autism academic, behavioral, and life skills. Direct Instruction (DI) is a scripted language curriculum that focuses on incorporating behavioral principles while teaching with short, sequenced instructions with an error correction procedure. While DTT has extensive research supporting its use for developing skills in individuals with ASD, DI incorporates similar principles in a cost-effective manner that can be implemented on a wider scale with fewer resources. The present study took place during the Covid-19 pandemic;thus, telehealth was implemented. An alternating treatment single case experimental design was utilized to determine which intervention strategy is more effective for developing language skills. Five students in an urban self-contained setting received DI and DTT interventions via Zoom. Language for Learning was utilized and participants identified nine pictures of buildings. Data was collected through direct observation of participants' responses and inferential statistics were used to visually inspect the data. Four out of five participants demonstrated greater skill acquisition using Discrete Trial Teaching and one participant demonstrated greater skill acquisition with Direct Instruction. All participants were able to tact the buildings and developed the language skill of tacting, as well as secondary language skills. The current study also substantiates the limited evidence validating telehealth as an effective platform to deliver intervention services to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Background: Evidence of effective early childhood obesity prevention is scarce and mainly derived from face-to-face interventions. However, the COVID-19 pandemic drastically reduced face-to-face health programmes globally. This study assessed effectiveness of a telephone-based intervention in reducing obesity risk of young children. Method(s): We adapted a study protocol (developed before the pandemic) and conducted a pragmatic randomised controlled trial of 662 women with children aged 2 years (mean age 24.06 months [SD 0.69]) during March, 2019, and October, 2021, extending the original planned intervention of 12 months to 24 months. The adapted intervention comprised five telephone-based support sessions plus text messages over a 24-month period (at child ages 24-26 months, 28-30 months, 32-34 months, 36-38 months, and 42-44 months). The intervention group (n=331) received staged telephone plus SMS support regarding healthy eating, physical activity, and information about COVID-19. The control group (n=331) received four staged mail-outs on information not related to the obesity prevention intervention, such as toilet training, language development, and sibling relationships, as a retention strategy. The intervention effects on BMI (primary outcome) and eating habits (secondary outcome), and perceived co-benefits, were evaluated using surveys and qualitative telephone interviews at 12 months and 24 months after baseline (age 2 years). The trial is registered with the Australian Clinical Trial Registry, ACTRN12618001571268. Finding(s): Of 662 mothers, 537 (81%) completed the follow-up assessments at 3 years, and 491 (74%) completed the follow-up assessment at 4 years. Multiple imputation analysis showed no significant difference in mean BMI between the groups. Among low-income families (ie, annual household income <AU$80 000) at age 3 years, the intervention was significantly associated with a lower mean BMI (16.26 kg/m2 [SD 2.22]) in the intervention group than in the control group (16.84 kg/m2 [2.37];p=0.040), a difference of -0.59 (95% CI -1.15 to -0.03;p=0.040). Children in the intervention group were more likely not to eat in front of the television than the control group, with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 2.00 (95% CI 1.33 to 2.99) at 3 years and an aOR of 2.50 (1.63 to 3.83) at 4 years. Qualitative interviews with 28 mothers revealed that the intervention increased their awareness, confidence, and motivation to implement healthy feeding practices, particularly for families from culturally diverse backgrounds (ie, speaking a language other than English at home). Interpretation(s): A telephone-based intervention was well received by the mothers who participated in the study. The intervention could reduce children's BMI from low-income families. Telephone-based support targeted at low-income families and families from culturally diverse backgrounds could reduce current inequalities in childhood obesity. Funding(s): The trial was funded under the NSW Health Translational Research Grant Scheme 2016 (number TRGS 200) and also by a National Health and Medical Research Council Partnership grant (number 1169823).Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license
ABSTRACT
Living through the global COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions in everyday life. For many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), this disruption has impacted academics, mental health, and ASD-related support services. Now, in this post COVID-19 quarantine time, routines are shifting back to pre-COVID-19 life, while individuals are still dealing with the effects of quarantine. Informed by a review of the literature, a compilation of social stories was created for Spanish bilingual children with ASD. The social stories can be used to aid educators and families of children with ASD in teaching self-regulation skills, strategies to manage worry and anxiety, and personal health and hygiene routines in this post COVID-19 quarantine time. Although a core symptom of ASD is social-communication deficits, the literature reveals that bilingualism does not interfere with language development among children with ASD. As such, the social stories are written in English and Spanish to provide accessibility to Spanish-speaking families, as well as promote consistency of information within the Spanish-speaking home and English-speaking school settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Stepping up to Global Challenges (SGC) aimed to provide students with opportunities for language practice through task-based learning activities and the use of digital platforms for interaction. Marketing students at the Polytechnic of Viseu, Portugal, collaborated with peers from Poland and Turkey, choosing an image on entrepreneurship and posting it on the SGC Facebook page to solicit comments from their own and other groups. This was one of the tasks assigned during the 2nd semester of 2019/20, under the constraints of COVID-19. We analyzed the students' choices, main difficulties, and motivation to persist in learning and improving their skills to share knowledge with (inter)national peers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Separate lines of research have demonstrated relations between auditory temporal processing and language ability and between information processing speed and intelligence. Because these processes have rarely been studied in the same sample, it is unclear how auditory temporal processing and information processing speed may operate together and how they may relate to cognitive functions including language. The overarching aim of this dissertation was to integrate these lines of research to better understand whether auditory temporal processing has a unique relation with language, or whether it relates more broadly to language and other cognitive functions as a part of global information processing speed. Study 1 examined auditory temporal processing, information processing speed, language ability, and intelligence in 4-6 year olds (N=47). Results revealed that auditory temporal processing and information processing speed correlated with age and with each other, but previously identified correlations with language and intelligence were not supported. Results raised questions about the auditory temporal processing measure used, thus Study 2 involved a mixed methodological scoping review to disentangle behavioural measures and constructs of auditory temporal processing in the extant literature. The review identified five categories of tasks that reportedly measure six auditory temporal processing constructs. Study 3 was planned as a pilot of three, child-friendly auditory temporal processing tasks that were designed and programmed based on Study 3 results, using a sample of adults and investigating the same relations as Study 1. Data collection was interrupted by Covid-19, thus Study 3 was written as a pre-registration and Study 4 involved a feasibility assessment for measuring auditory temporal processing online. Results revealed that measuring auditory temporal processing online shows promise, but must first be tested to ensure accuracy, precision, and quality of stimuli in the specific context of the tasks being used due to the potential impact on millisecond level timing. Although the direction of this dissertation took a step back to disentangle questions outside of the original overall aim, the collective results return the field to a place where the original questions may be investigated with better clarity about important considerations that need to be made moving forward. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Learning a new language is always an asset. There are various ways in which people can learn a language. During covid 19 when the world was shut down, there was a surge in language learning through technology and applications. Now in the current era, the use of technology is unavoidable in one's life. With the existence of so many language learning apps, it has become challenging to choose the correct one according to one's needs. This study tries to critically evaluate the use of CALL applications in teaching and learning a foreign language's speaking skills. Out of the four skills of language learning, speaking skills are the most different. As we know, speaking is a primary skill and is colloquial in nature, i.e less formal and less structured. To learn to speak a foreign language needs a natural touch of the language. So, the question is the use of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) will take you away from the setting of speaking skills or towards it. Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Living through the global COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions in everyday life. For many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), this disruption has impacted academics, mental health, and ASD-related support services. Now, in this post COVID-19 quarantine time, routines are shifting back to pre-COVID-19 life, while individuals are still dealing with the effects of quarantine. Informed by a review of the literature, a compilation of social stories was created for Spanish bilingual children with ASD. The social stories can be used to aid educators and families of children with ASD in teaching self-regulation skills, strategies to manage worry and anxiety, and personal health and hygiene routines in this post COVID-19 quarantine time. Although a core symptom of ASD is social-communication deficits, the literature reveals that bilingualism does not interfere with language development among children with ASD. As such, the social stories are written in English and Spanish to provide accessibility to Spanish-speaking families, as well as promote consistency of information within the Spanish-speaking home and English-speaking school settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The diagnostic characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes challenges in social communication skills. Among different components of social communication, language, particularly vocabulary, must be supported early in children's development as language is shown to be associated with academic, social, cognitive, and adaptive skills and their development trajectory. Enhanced milieu teaching (EMT) is one of evidence-based, naturalistic interventions that are designed to support the vocabulary development of young children with ASD. EMT is often implemented by caregivers, therapists, or teachers;however, there is no study that evaluated the effectiveness of sibling-implemented EMT on the vocabulary use of children with ASD. With the rise of COVID-19, there is an increased duration of family interactions at home which led to the need for more structured and effective strategies for social interactions, especially for children with ASD. As siblings frequently engage in social interactions such as play, training older siblings to facilitate effective communication and play with their younger siblings with ASD could improve the language development of children with ASD as well as the siblings' social interactions. Adapting a multiple probe design, the study examined the effects of sibling-implemented EMT with virtual performance feedback for the siblings without ASD on the siblings' implementation fidelity of EMT and language outcomes and percentage of responses by children with ASD. Generalization with a novel material and maintenance over one week, two weeks, or one month was measured. Social validity questionnaires were completed by the siblings and the caregivers after the intervention. The findings provide implications for family-centered evidence-based practices, particularly through the use of virtual training for family members including the siblings of children with ASD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and closures have influenced all children's health and development (HAD). We aimed to examine whether this differs by social circumstances. We hypothesised that socially disadvantaged children experienced more pronounced deterioration in their HAD compared with better-off children. In our trend study, we included five cohorts of school enrolment medical screening (school entrance 2018-2022) in the city of Dusseldorf, Germany. To compensate for selection bias due to the limited number of examinations in pandemic months, we chose the first 800 examinations of each cohort. We computed predicted prevalences of overweight, coordination and language problems as indicators of HAD. Neighbourhood deprivation, single-parent families and non-German nationality were used as indicators of social disadvantage. All groups of children experienced a deterioration in their HAD. Its magnitude is comparable between children with different social circumstances. For instance, between 2018 and 2021, prevalence of overweight increased from 19.2 to 24.2% in children from deprived neighbourhoods, and from 8.1 to 16.5% in children from well-off neighbourhoods. Prevalence of language problems (prepositions) increased from 49.9 to 72.1% among non-German children, and from 14.4 to 39.1% among German children. Conclusion: Results only partly confirmed our hypothesis. However, since the pre-pandemic prevalences of HAD problems among disadvantaged children were already higher, further deterioration - regardless of its magnitude - has led to their particularly poor situation. For those children, overweight and language development should be priorities of prevention. Generally, important settings for child HAD such as kindergartens or leisure facilities should remain open in future pandemics. What is known: ⢠The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on general child health and development. ⢠Before the pandemic, social inequalities in child health and development were a common phenomenon. What is new: ⢠Children in all social groups experienced a deterioration in their health and development over the course of the pandemic. ⢠Over the course of the pandemic, children from deprived neighbourhoods have demonstrated a particularly high prevalence of overweight. Language problems are particularly prevalent among non-German children.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pandemics , Child , Humans , Child Health , COVID-19/epidemiology , Overweight/epidemiology , Communicable Disease Control , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
There has been increasing interest over the past decade with regard to the health and wellbeing implications of time spent outdoors in nature for children. Universal systematic reviews of evidence report benefits to physical health, social-emotional mental health and wellbeing, cognition and academic learning. Internationally, there is indicative evidence to suggest outdoor engagement with nature may also impact children's language and communication skills, skills that are critical to development, education, social relationships and life opportunities. Yet, at present such evidence has not been synthesised. Despite evidence for the benefits of the outdoors, the amount of time children are spending outdoors is in rapid decline, and has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside this are increasing numbers of children starting primary education with significant speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) which remain persistent over time. With established wide-reaching benefits of nature to children's physical and mental health and psychological development, there is a need to further explore the more specific impacts of the natural environment on children's language, communication and social skills, which could provide a unique opportunity to consider nature as a universal public health intervention for SLCN. The current review will aim to synthesise existing qualitative and quantitative evidence of the impact of time spent in natural outdoor spaces on the language, communication and social skills of 2-11-year-old children. Literature will be searched across seven databases and considered for inclusion against inclusion and exclusion criteria. Potential implications of the review include informing public health practice and policy for child development and education, informing priorities for speech, language, and communication interventions, and providing directions for future international research.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Social Skills , COVID-19/epidemiology , Child , Child, Preschool , Communication , Humans , Language , Pandemics , Review Literature as TopicABSTRACT
The current study compares two evidence-based instructional methods for teaching students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) the skill of tacting. Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) is an applied behavior analysis technique utilized in various settings for teaching individuals with Autism academic, behavioral, and life skills. Direct Instruction (DI) is a scripted language curriculum that focuses on incorporating behavioral principles while teaching with short, sequenced instructions with an error correction procedure. While DTT has extensive research supporting its use for developing skills in individuals with ASD, DI incorporates similar principles in a cost-effective manner that can be implemented on a wider scale with fewer resources. The present study took place during the Covid-19 pandemic;thus, telehealth was implemented. An alternating treatment single case experimental design was utilized to determine which intervention strategy is more effective for developing language skills. Five students in an urban self-contained setting received DI and DTT interventions via Zoom. Language for Learning was utilized and participants identified nine pictures of buildings. Data was collected through direct observation of participants' responses and inferential statistics were used to visually inspect the data. Four out of five participants demonstrated greater skill acquisition using Discrete Trial Teaching and one participant demonstrated greater skill acquisition with Direct Instruction. All participants were able to tact the buildings and developed the language skill of tacting, as well as secondary language skills. The current study also substantiates the limited evidence validating telehealth as an effective platform to deliver intervention services to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Developmental language disorder is a diagnostic challenge in early stages of development, so its adequate approach and intervention improves the prognosis of this group of patients who are often diagnosed late, especially recently in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article seeks to provide tools that promote understanding its importance, as well as allowing parents to be given strategies that promote language and communication skills in the early stages of their children's development.
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Student participation and engagement are central to learning, yet behaviours that indicate participation and cognitive engagement can differ in online and face-to-face classes. This difference became apparent in 2020, when universities around the world transitioned from face-to-face classrooms to wholly online classes. With this move, tutors' perceptions of participation and engagement changed. Based on written reflections by 13 tutors who teach at an Australian university, we found that tutors recognised new/different indicators of engagement in the classZoom. In addition, the tutors observed that issues around student diversity and access greatly influence how students participate in the classZoom. Tutors also learnt not to assume that students were not participating and engaging online if they did not enact the same behaviours expected of them in face-to-face classes. Using active learning theories, this paper argues that participation and engagement can be understood and fostered online with particular attention to student diversity and digital access. These understandings enrich current pedagogical perceptions and inform educators to `design in' more active forms of engagement in the classZoom. What has been learnt through this experience has salience beyond the confines of COVID lockdowns and into hybrid modalities of online and face-to-face teaching practices.
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Education in the last two years has undergone very rapid changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Online learning is the only option for education to take place. This requires students and teachers to utilize information technology in language learning. The investigation was carried out to find out the extent of student persistence in carrying out language learning at the Raja Ali Haji Maritime University during the Covid-19 pandemic. Investigation through a survey of 103 FKIP students. Collecting data using a questionnaire with a Likert Scale. Furthermore, the data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. The results exhibited that (1) Students' IT mastery affects lecturers' teaching methods;(2) Students' IT mastery has no effect on student persistence, (3) Facilities do not affect lecturer's teaching methods, (4) Facilities do not affect student persistence, (5) Media/application variations affect lecturer's teaching methods, (6) Variations media/applications have no effect on student persistence, (7) lecturer's teaching methods have no effect on student persistence.
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Objectives: This study aims to develop a computer-aided therapy (CAT) application to help children who suffer from delayed language development (DLD) improve their language, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The implemented system teaches the children their body parts using the Egyptian dialect. Two datasets were collected from healthy children (2800 words) and unhealthy children (236 words) who have DLD at the clinic. The model is implemented using a speaker-independent isolated word recognizer based on a discrete-observation hidden Markov model (DHMM) classifier. After the speech signal preprocessing step, K-means algorithm generated a codebook to cluster the speech segments. This task was completed under the MATLAB environment. The graphical user interface was implemented successfully under the C# umbrella to complete the CAT application task. The system was tested on healthy and DLD children. Also, in a small clinical trial, five children who have DLD tested the program in an actual trial to monitor their pronunciation progress during therapeutic sessions. Results: The max recognition rate was 95.25% for the healthy children dataset, while 93.82% for the DLD dataset. Conclusion: DHMM was implemented successfully using nine and five states based on different codebook sizes (160, 200). The implemented system achieved a high recognition rate using both datasets. The children enjoyed using the application because it was interactive. Children who have DLD can use speech recognition applications.
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Children who have a deficit in language as they enter school continue to be behind their peers as they progress from grade to grade. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many children were unable to attend school or preschool in person. Children develop language best in face-to-face environments. Previous literature did not include how the pandemic and the increased use of remote learning using technology might impact kindergarten readiness. This study adds to the body of knowledge by including perceptions of parents after remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. I utilized a quantitative phenomenological research design. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey that used a 5-point Likert scale. The questions determined the perceptions of parents of kindergarten students on (a) what parents of kindergarteners believe they did to prepare their children before kindergarten, (b) what skills parents of kindergarten students feel are important for success in kindergarten, and (c) how participation in remote learning change how parents feel they should have prepared their children for kindergarten. Results of the study indicate that parents did change their overall perceptions of what they felt were the most important skills for students to be prepared to know as they enter kindergarten. Before the pandemic and remote learning, parents felt that cognitive and motor were most important and that social/emotional was the most important measure of success in kindergarten. Following remote instruction, 48% of parents in the sample population, stated they would do more to prepare their children in language/communication. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Formal educational institutions are responsible for the character education of students as the next generation of the nation, for which students need to be prepared for education as early as possible to have character, as in traditional games. Along with the times, traditional children's games have shifted with modern games, namely virtual world games with advanced technology. The 21st St skills early learning framework supports the integration of skills (critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity, technology literacy, and socio-emotional. Traditional games have many benefits in all aspects of student development which include physical-motor, socio-emotional, moral, cognitive, and language development. Through the 2013 curriculum, it is expected to be able to provide life skills during the Covid-19 pandemic. Cultural literacy developed is very diverse, among others with traditional game literacy. The introduction and preservation of traditional game culture in addition to government support is certainly also highly expected the role of parents and the community. Play is a very important and fun activity in the child's learning process, so it will be encouraged to experiment and grow well in life. Traditional games have so many different forms and variations and tend to take advantage of tools or facilities that exist in the school environment without having to buy them so that it requires high imagination and creativity. In addition, traditional games also have noble values and certain moral messages such as the values of togetherness, honesty, responsibility, airy attitude (if lost), encouragement of achievement, and adherence to rules. All that can be done if the player really enjoys, enjoys and understands the essence of the game. By sticking to Indonesian cultural literacy has an honest identity about culture. It is hoped that the Indonesian nation can become a developed and civilized nation.
ABSTRACT
Purpose of Study Language exposure is essential for speech and language development in newborns. NICU infants by virtue of their prolonged hospitalizations or multiple complications are more likely exposed to less language. Based on a low rate of reading measured in our NICU, this initiative was designed to target this deficiency. Methods Used A family reading survey used for two-week old infants at home (modified from Before and After Books and Reading Survey and the Stony Brook Family Reading Survey) was adapted for inpatients. The survey, consisting of 22 questions, was given to caretakers of infants in the NICU at >7 days to 2 months' time period. The R.E.A.D. (Read to, Enjoy, And Develop) Your Baby program was developed to promote shared reading and educate parents about the importance of language. The campaign consists of giving baby books to families with an infant in the NICU >7 days and bi-weekly for chronically hospitalized infants. Books were made available by the Reach Out and Read Program and by acquisition using a regional grant fund. Using historical cohorts, the survey was given to parents before and after instituting the R.E.A.D. Your Baby program. Comparisons of proportions of parents reporting reading or verbalizing activity was analyzed using N-1 two proportion test. Summary of Results The initial survey was conducted with 50 families in 2019;the post-intervention survey collection is still ongoing and currently 12 families have participated. Demographic data of caretakers are included in Table 1. One item asked parents to name three favorite activities to do with your baby in the NICU by free text-25.2% (37/150) responses centered about language (talking, singing, or reading) in the pre-phase;41.7% (15/36) provided language responses (p=0.024) in the post-intervention phase. Reading represented 5.3% (8/150) of responses in the pre-phase, whereas it represented 13.9% (5/36) of the responses in the post-phase, p=0.00001. A multiple-choice question later asked do you read to your baby in the NICU? in which 22% (11/50) of parents answered yes in the pre-phase;91.7% (11/12) respondents answered yes in the post-phase, p=0.00000. Conclusions Shared reading was occurring for a minority of infants in our urban-setting NICU before the R.E.A.D. Your Baby campaign. Initially we had aimed to improve the reading rate to 50%. Already in the early stages of surveying postintervention, a remarkable increase has been observed. One confounding factor may be a long interval of time between pre- and post-intervention (which was mostly due to the Covid-19 pandemic);another factor may be higher number of parents with education beyond high school in the post-phase. Beyond exposing infants to language in the NICU, additional benefits of reading together likely include promoting parentinfant bonding, providing parental stress coping techniques, and priming for continued reading at home. (Table Presented).