Walker, RE; (2016) Understanding, developing and evaluating home-school partnerships for children on the autism spectrum through home-school reading. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This mixed-methods study was set in a suburban local authority nursery and primary special school (3-11yrs) for children on the autism spectrum. The study consisted of four consecutive phases, designed to: • examine the factors which affect parent participation in, and teacher facilitation of, home-school reading for nursery and primary school aged children with autism; • develop a model of parent and teacher collaborative working to help parents carry out reading activities with their autistic children at home; • evaluate the intervention and understand its impact on the participants. Phase 1 of the study (Autumn Term, 2013) employed a parent questionnaire and a review of a previous teacher survey to gain understanding of home and school reading practices prior to intervention. Phase 2 (Autumn Term, 2013) was a training phase that drew on the Phase 1 data. It consisted of separate training workshops for school staff and parents. These included activities to help participants explore attitudes towards collaborative home-school working and to develop understanding, skills and confidence in teaching children with autism to read. Phase 3 (Spring Term, 2014) was a 12-week home-school reading programme in which parent and teacher pairs worked collaboratively to share strategies and carry out similar reading activities in both home and school settings. Phase 4 (Summer Term, 2014) was the evaluation phase, which comprised semi-structured interviews with parents and teachers and analysis of the pupils’ school assessment data relating to reading skills. Overall, the intervention was successful in helping parents and teachers to develop their skills and confidence in supporting their autistic children to transfer and generalise their in-school learning to the home. In particular, parents benefitted from their children demonstrating greater shared-attention and concentration skills during reading activities at home. The findings suggest a model framework for developing and implementing a home-school reading programme for children with autism.

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