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JCPSLP
Volume 19, Number 3 2017
Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
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.