# Shared Reading Intervention for Children with Oral Clefts

> **NIH NIH UG3** · SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · 2022 · $320,101

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Children with oral clefts are at increased risk for deficits in language and literacy compared to their peers.
However, to date no attention has been given to interventions that might offset these risks. This study will be
the first to develop and test a shared reading intervention to promote language and emergent literacy for young
children with oral clefts. We will tailor the intervention to the needs of this population, ensuring that the program
can be delivered in coordination with regular craniofacial appointments and using innovative remote coaching
strategies to facilitate engagement among families who have traditionally been under-represented in research
(e.g., families living in rural areas). Specifically, in-person sessions will be coordinated with children’s regular
craniofacial care. Between visits, caregivers will use their smartphones to send video recordings of shared
reading interactions for interventionists to review and provide encouragement and coaching. The study will be
conducted in craniofacial clinics at 3 major centers, which serve diverse and complementary patient
populations: Seattle Children’s Hospital, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and Children’s Hospital of Los
Angeles. We will translate and review all materials for cultural and linguistic appropriateness for English and
Spanish-speaking families. In the planning phase (UG3) of the study, we will finalize our treatment and
research protocols (Aim 1). We will recruit a sample of 30 children with oral clefts ages 16 to 20-months old
and their caregivers for an abbreviated pilot test of the intervention. This will allow us to establish intervention
feasibility/acceptability in our target population, and to establish treatment fidelity across centers (Aim 2). This
pilot will also demonstrate whether the intervention engages proposed behavioral targets (i.e., parents’ reading
behaviors) (Aim 3). In the implementation phase (UH3), we will conduct a randomized controlled trial of the
intervention with 320 children with oral clefts and their parents. We will enroll participants after palate repair
(ages 16-20 months) and randomize half to receive the intervention and the other half to an information -only
control group. The intervention will consist of 3 in person sessions and 12 remote sessions delivered from
baseline through age 36-months. Aims for the RCT include (1) Test the hypothesis that intervention improves
children’s language and literacy outcomes at age 36 months; (2a) Test the hypothesis that intervention
improves caregivers’ shared reading behaviors and (2b) that improvements in child outcomes are mediated by
changes in caregivers’ shared reading behaviors; and (3) Examine heterogeneity in outcomes based on
demographic, clinical, and intervention characteristics. This will be the first study to examine an intervention to
address language and literacy deficits observed in children with oral clefts. In addition to improving care for
children with ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10487408
- **Project number:** 5UG3DE029753-02
- **Recipient organization:** SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Brent Russell Collett
- **Activity code:** UG3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $320,101
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-10 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10487408

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10487408, Shared Reading Intervention for Children with Oral Clefts (5UG3DE029753-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10487408. Licensed CC0.

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