DS1yr does sometimes need us to simplify our speech... but mostly we do that naturally because we react to the light in his eyes when he likes the way we're talking to him. And there are studies to show that parents tend to be very good judges of their children's receptive language needs, too.
I guess the thing is that one needs to meet the kid _where they are_ and sometimes the advice really is too one-size fits all... DSnow3 had a huge difference between his expressive/receptive language scores. I suspect the SLP he saw hadn't seen quite that before, and had no clue it mattered (though it seems to me it would be fairly clear to a thoughtful Speech Path). FWIW, the difference was substantially more than his age at the time
I think this is the right ref, but can't get the full text right this minute:
Whitehurst, G. J., & Fischel, J. E. (1994). Early developmental language delay: What, if anything, should a clinician do about it? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 613-648.
Ok, hope I didn't miss anything this time!
EDIT: DH thinks I got the wrong ref and it's Whitehurst 1994, a solo paper, no second author. Like I said, I can't get the full texts right now.
