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JCPSLP Volume 17, Number 3 2015 153
also acknowledged that families who had not previously
documented information about their children in a CHR
found it more difficult to fill it in.
Educators also spoke of difficulty accessing services for
the children they had identified as being “at risk”. Part of
this difficulty arose from parents not seeking assessment
(e.g., acknowledging the concerns but then adopting a
“wait and see” approach) (McAllister, McCormack, McLeod
& Harrison, 2011). Dana highlights her experiences of trying
to get assistance for concerns: “Some families getting them
to actually follow up on an assessment, that’s usually the
hardest point”. Educators found this challenging as they
understood the importance of these services for these
children, especially as the Australian Early Development
Census data are showing that some children are starting
school “at risk” or “developmentally vulnerable” in some
areas (Department of Education, 2013).
it gave us both an understanding across the board of
what we’re talking about. (Melody)
Educators also spoke of how the information on
developmental norms assisted their conversations, noting
parents could read, see, and refer to the norms themselves.
Further, the educators reported that by incorporating
service ideas, developmental milestones, and up-to-date
information into one resource, the South Australia CHR
made this information easily accessible. This feature was
valued by the educators.
I felt confident because I had research to back me up
and on hand and that’s accepted and published... (Maria)
Finally, the educators reported experiencing more
favourable outcomes with parents through using the
CHR. Educators reported parents were more relaxed,
accepting, and willing to engage in conversations and work
in partnership with them when the CHR was available,
compared to their previous experiences prior to the study.
The ease in which parents sort of came on board with
and were quite happy to be become involved … it’s
always a difficult conversation ... I think the book …
made it easier for us to talk to parents ... we were just
using the book as an extra tool and that I think made
the parents more relaxed, in dealing with it. (Jenny)
Overall the educators identified that the CHR supported
them in having conversations with parents. This supports
Hamilton and Wyver’s (2012) conclusion that “CHRs
may offer an important, but underutilised communication
tool” (p. 76). The milestone charts in the CHR completed
by parents provided a good platform to talk about
development, identify gaps apparent in the charts, and
facilitated links with educator observations. These findings
also highlight that the CHR and its information may
act as a talking point and assist in facilitating effective
communication. Additionally, the findings support Hamilton
and Wyver’s (2012) suggestion that professionals who
work with children/families may play a significant role in
supporting parents to understand such information.
Challenges
While educators identified that the CHR provided valuable
support for communicating with parents, they also identified
challenges (parents, practical issues, and services) with
these conversations. Participating educators acknowledged
that communicating concerns about a child to parents is
difficult. However, they identified that parents’ reactions
(e.g., denial), non-engagement, limited knowledge of
development, and limited time for conversations also
presented challenges.
It’s always very hard, it’s very difficult [sic], but you have
to remind yourself that you’re doing it for the right reasons
[sic], that it is to help the child and you want the child to
have success at school, so that’s always a good thing
to keep in mind … but it is very difficult [sic], especially
if they’re quite in denial, yeah yep, and if it’s the first
time they’ve heard it you know, it might be the first time
that they’ve even had any, sort of, anybody suggest
something might not be quite right and that can be
quite a shock to some parents. Yeah it’s difficult. (Dana)
The time, that that was the most difficult thing …
Because these people have very busy lives. (Leah)
Educators highlighted practical issues such as needing to
encourage some parents to use all components of the CHR
provided (e.g., prompting parents to fill in specific sections
prior to the conversation, adding more detail such as dates
and examples than just ticking boxes). Some educators
Challenges
Parents Practical issues Services
Figure 2. Categories within Challenges (theme 2)
Parents’ reactions, practical issues, and availability of
services meant that conversations between educators and
parents were complicated. McCormack and Easton (2014)
reported similar findings in a study that explored the beliefs,
values, and attitudes of educators and speech-language
pathologists in the management of communication
disorders. Family reluctance/denial, feeling unsupported
by other professionals, and being unsure how to help a
child and manage his or her frustration/behaviour were the
challenges identified for these educators. The similarities in
findings across studies suggest educators commonly face
these issues and that further exploration and support for
educators is warranted.
Limitations
Several factors need to be considered when examining the
results of this study. First, results from this qualitative study
cannot be generalised beyond these eight participants, as
they may not represent the experiences and perspectives of
other educators in other ECEC services or organisations.
Second, bias may have occurred as the participating educators
were from the same organisation and volunteered to be
involved in this study. Participating educators self-selected
parents/families with a child whom they were concerned
about to engage in this study. Bias may have occurred as
educators may have approached parents/families for
recruitment to the study whom they believed would be
open to participation and to the conversations the study
was centered around.
Conclusions
The information gained from this study provides insight into
how CHRs could be utilised to assist with early identification
of developmental difficulties, specifically communication
difficulties. The results show that, for these participants, the
CHR was a valuable tool for supporting conversations
between educators and parents about developmental
concerns. Participants also spoke of the challenges of
parents’ reactions, engagement, and time availability. These
challenges highlight areas for possible future support for