The basic ComAlong course consists of eight 2-h sessions containing lectures, homework assignments, discussions and collaborative analyses of video recordings of interactions between the parents and their children at home. Theory as well as parental experiences and knowledge of communication, communication development, responsive communication strategies, play, aided language stimulation and AAC are focused on during the different sessions.
The four basic courses:
- ComAlong – addresses parents of children 0-6 years with communication difficulties
- ComAlong, DLD (Developmental Language Disorders) – are tailored to parents of children with communication- and language difficulties. It includes six session, reducing the content somewhat in regard to AAC.
- ComAlong Toddler – is tailored for parents of children 0-3 years with communication- and language difficulties. Five 150 min course sessions are followed by a visit at the home of the family supporting and facilitating the use of the learned strategies in the home environment.
- ComYoung – addresses parents of children aged 6-18 years with communication difficulties. Communication in the school environment and literacy instruction are examples of course content adaptations.
- ComMore– is an adaption of ComAlong that addresses the complex situation of multilingual and multicultural families. The course is translated to all attending parents and parts of the course materials have been translated to the most common immigrant languages, such as Arabic, Somali and Tigrinja. All sessions are extended to 3 h.
Advanced course:
- ComHome – addresses parents who have attended one of the basic courses. The course includes five group sessions but is sometimes used as an individual intervention. The course starts by providing theory and practice in collaborative problem solving and the use of Goal Attainment Scaling. The parents select one play activity or everyday activity to work with and define goals and strategies and materials to use. The parents video record their children in between the sessions to share and discuss in the group.