The FIRST program is a community outreach of the JMU Speech-Language Clinic for typically developing infants ages 6-12 months and their caregivers. Families join us for a series of visits that focus on discovering new ways to engage babies in communication using a few key strategies called the 3Ts: Tune In, Talk More, Take Turns. Families are empowered to use these strategies through large group interactive discussions, small groups with other parents and in individualized one-on-one sessions with graduate student coaches. Topics relevant to the first year of life, such as feeding, sleep, attachment, and motor development, are included with a focus on using the activities of everyday life as opportunities for enriched communication with infants.

New Programming Coming Soon

The FIRST research team is excited to share with you our plan for offering a new round of FIRST programming in April and May 2023. We hope to enroll participants with infants 6-12 months old who specifically meet our criteria for low socioeconomic status. Eligible families must have less than a 4 year degree post high school and qualify for some form of public assistance (ex. Medicaid, WIC or FAMIS). Over our four years of offering the FIRST Program we have obtained promising data about the impact of this initiative on children, caregivers, and our graduate clinicians. We are focused in this programming year on building our research base specifically for low SES families.

More details about the new FIRST program

• Letter from the FIRST Research Team
• Bilingual Flyer