Introduction With a prevalence of around 7.6%, developmental language disorders (DLDs) without comorbidities are among the most common and most frequently treated childhood disorders. Standard DLD therapy in Germany consists of individual therapy sessions once per week within speech - language therapy practices.
In reality, these sessions only take place every 10 - 14 days on average. Online therapy may be beneficial but is not yet standard practice in Germany.
Although DLD group therapy has been proven to be effective, it is rarely undertaken in Germany. The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of online DLD therapy for small groups of children with standard one-to-one therapy.
Methods and analysis The effectiveness of two treatment settings is evaluated in 212 children with moderate-to-severe DLD (ages 3 years to 6 years 11 months) in the multicentre, block randomised controlled trial (RCT) THErapy ONline. Five centres in Germany participate.
Children are randomly assigned to the intervention group (online interval-intensive therapy, IG1, n=106) or the control group (extensive standard in-person therapy, IG2, n=106).
BMJ Open published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 24 Apr 2026.
The item focuses on Effectiveness of an online interval group therapy for children with developmental language disorders: protocol for a randomised controlled intervention study.
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