Comparison of Caregiver Engagement in Telepractice and In-person Family-Centered Early Intervention

Telepractice—specifically, the use of high-speed internet and interactive videoconferencing technology to deliver real-time audio and video communications between the family and the practitioner—is gaining acceptance as an alternative means of providing family-centered early intervention to families of children who are deaf and hard of hearing. This study examined whether caregivers' reported perceptions of self-efficacy and involvement differed when early intervention was delivered in-person and through telepractice. The Scale of Parental Involvement and Self-Efficacy (SPISE) was used to evaluate perceptions of two groups of caregivers: one that received early intervention in-person (n  = 100) and a group who received services through telepractice (n  = 41). Results indicated that mode of delivery of services was not related to caregivers' perceptions of their self-efficacy or involvement. Further analysis revealed that although certain caregiver or child characteristics did influence some aspects of caregivers' beliefs about their self-efficacy or involvement, the effect of those variables was similar across both modes of delivery.