26 / 64
140
JCPSLP
Volume 19, Number 3 2017
Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
parents, the key implications appear to be the value of
(a) helping parents, existing early intervention staff, and
future teachers to establish open and effective avenues of
communication; (b) embedding activities to boost children’s
school readiness skills within existing programs ahead of
the transition; and (c) seeking to do so in a way that will see
children practising these skills repeatedly at home and in
early childhood settings in the lead up to school.
In addition to supporting children during the transition,
the results indicate that the PrEPIC program led to a range
of positive outcomes for parents. There is clear evidence
that supporting children with social-communication and
learning difficulties during the transition to school can be
very challenging for parents (Chadwick & Kemp, 2000).
Thus, the findings that parents felt more supported, less
anxious, and are in a position to have increased choice
regarding their children’s future schooling following the
program, are encouraging. For speech pathologists and
other professionals seeking to support similar outcomes in
parents, apparent lessons to be learned from the PrEPIC
program include (a) the need for people with experience in
findings of the study, and their relevance to speech
pathologists, other allied health professionals, and
educators who support children and parents during the
transition to school.
The PrEPIC transition program was identified to be
foundational
in the sense that it brought together multiple
components of support, not only for the children, but
also their parents. According to parents, key elements
included an individualised approached to identifying and
addressing children’s learning needs, the establishment of
supportive and open communication channels between
teachers and parents, and an intensive approach whereby
children attended the program four days per week in the
year prior to school. These elements (e.g., individualised
approach, open communication) appear to be consistent
with Marsh and Eapan’s (2017) recommendations for
programs aimed at supporting the transition to school.
However, the resource-intensive nature of the program
means that replication in other educational settings is
likely to be challenging. For speech pathologists and
other professionals working to support children and
Table 2. Summary of themes and their categories with illustrative quotations
Theme Category
Parent
Illustrative quotations
“It’s the Foundation”
Parent
commitment
Sue “I can see that it’ll all be worth it...to get off on the right foot…to find the love of learning…”
Experienced
teachers
Elise “They’re teachers that have worked with special needs kids. They know.”
Age appropriate Sophie “It just seemed to slot in exactly what we needed, you know, another year of kinder is too much
boredom, and school’s just too quick.”
Individualised
approach
Sue “One of the best things is the fact that they are [the children] taught as individuals.”
Communication Sophie “You open your [communication] book every day, you see what they’ve done…it’s great. I love having
that.”
Sense of
humour
Mia “It’s also nice to be told what funny or stupid thing they did, laugh about it, because, they’re all kids.”
“Seems grown up”
Communication
Ella “He comes back with stories, which has never happened in kinder. I used to drag the words out of him,
but now he has actually started telling me what he’s done at school.”
Social
interaction
Anne “He would never participate before. Now he participates okay. They helped that. If they didn’t do that
he would be in the corner playing with his trains again.”
Emotional
regulation
Kate “I knew emotionally, he just wasn’t ready whereas now I’m comfortable to say, yes, he’s ready now to
go to a mainstream school.”
Behaviour
Hannah “I thought, they’re not going to be able to deal with him. I couldn’t even imagine him sitting at a table
for 30 seconds, let alone the whole day.”
Maturity
Ella “He absolutely loves it. He seems grown up. He’s just like, not a baby anymore.”
“Eased us and the kids into school”
Parent support
Sue “That’s what I’m going to miss the most is not having the support of the other parents.”
Teacher support
Mia “It’s been that extra support from the teachers.”
Reduced
anxiety
Elise “It’s just made me more relaxed for next year thinking, well, he’s not going to be the child’s that’s
struggling.”
Creating
options
Sue “The only option I felt was to put him in a special school whereas now, I think, you know, I could have
had options.”
Impact at home Anne “He will have at least four stories tonight with my husband. Because of them. They’re amazing.”
Trepidation
Ella “PrEPIC is so good and I know I’m very happy about that but he won’t have it next year. Is he going to
be different in a mainstream setting? I don’t know, will he fit in? Will he cope?”