JCPSLP November 2017

multifaceted transition program. Accordingly, this study was designed to examine parents’ views and experiences of the PrEPIC program, with the view to identifying strategies that may support other children, parents, and teachers during the transition based on their experiences. In this article, the overarching goal was not to present an evaluation of the program, but to identify lessons that can be learned from the program that may help speech pathologists, other allied health professionals, and educators in their future attempts to better support children and their parents during the transition to school. Method Ethics approval The study was approved by the La Trobe University Human Ethics Committee (FHEC11/R7). Design A qualitative study design involving a series of three focus groups over two years and subsequent thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to address the research aim. Participants Invitations to participate in the focus groups were sent to all of the parents of the 10 children who had finished the program the year prior (Group 1), and to those of 10 children who had recently enrolled in the program (Group 2). Parents in Group 2 were also invited to attend a follow-up focus group at the end of the PrEPIC program. Further follow-up groups were scheduled 12 months later but due to issues of low attendance (Group 1), poor audio quality inhibiting transcription (Group 2), and the fact that the sentiments expressed were consistent with those expressed in earlier groups, only the pre- and post- groups are presented in the study. As presented in Table 1, a total of 3 parents in Group 1 and 8 parents in Group 2, participated in focus groups over the course of the study. The children were all aged 4–6 years at the time of entry into the PrEPIC program and presented with social-communication and learning difficulties associated with a range of diagnoses. Formal measures of the children’s cognition and adaptive behaviour

and resources. Yet while these recommendations clearly address the range of factors that may influence child and family experiences of transition, developing a program that addresses all principles represents a substantial clinical challenge. To this end, there are very few studies in the research literature examining multifaceted programs aimed at supporting the transition to school (Marsh & Eapen, 2017). The PrEPIC program In 2010, a community based organization – Early Childhood Intervention Services and Training (EPIC) – partnered with a local public school to trial a program to support children with social-communication and learning difficulties and their parents, who had been receiving early intervention services, transition to school. Labelled PrEPIC, the program involved 10 children attending a class held within the school grounds, four days per week, during school hours, in the year prior to them commencing school. The children were taught by two teachers who were experienced in educating children with special needs. Classroom activities were similar to those that the children would be exposed to in preparatory classes, in the following year, such as group story reading and emergent literacy activities; drawing, cutting, and pasting tasks to develop children’s fine motor skills; and free play time aimed at developing children’s social skills. All activities were adapted to the children’s learning strengths and needs. The teachers set individualised goals for each child and parents were taught and supported to implement learning strategies at home, thereby involving them in the program. Support for parents was provided through regular individual parent-teacher meetings, a home-school communication book for each child, and informal meetings at the start and end of each day. PrEPIC was designed such that children could either continue in the same school in the following year, or transition to a different school depending on parental preferences. Aim of study The development and roll-out of PrEPIC provided a rare opportunity to examine the possible impact of a

Table 1. Participant demographics

Parent

Child

Focus group/s attended

Group

Name

Gender

Name

Gender

Diagnosis

Pre

Post

1

Anne

F

Luke

M

ASD

n/a

Yes

1

Grace

F

Leanne

F

ASD

n/a

Yes

1

Ava

F

Michelle

F

ASD

n/a

Yes

2

Sophie

F

Nathan

M

ID

Yes

Yes

2

Ella

F

Jake

M

ASD

Yes

Yes

2

Kate

F

Oliver

M

ASD

Yes

No

2

Sue

F

Lara

F

ID

Yes

Yes

2

Hannah

F

Michael

M

ID

Yes

No

2

Mia

F

Sean

M

CP

Yes

Yes

2

Elise

F

Ben

M

ASD

Yes

Yes

ASD = Autism spectrum disorder. ID = Intellectual disability. CP = Cerebral palsy.

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JCPSLP Volume 19, Number 3 2017

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology

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