Abstract. This small-scale Australian study employed a mixed method design to explore the perspectives of parents and preservice teachers who worked together on a technology-based home intervention to better engage children aged 4-5 years with communication difficulties in the family morning routine. A mini-iPad was used by each parent to support their child's learning of self-care skills, and parents were individually coached on the technical and pedagogical aspects of the intervention by preservice teachers. Preliminary results from parent interviews, preservice teacher weekly reflections, and parent and preservice teacher online surveys provided strong support for the use of the iPad as a promising tool for interventions of this kind. IntroductionBeginning special educators need to be workplace ready on graduation. These circumstances demand that they not only have the pedagogical knowledge but the professional experience across a broad range of practice, including digital technologies and working with families. The use of digital technology to boost learning outcomes for students with diverse needs has been well documented [1]. More recently, findings from iPad use at home and at school by children with disabilities, particularly those on the autism spectrum, has yielded positive outcomes [2,3,4,5]. For these reasons, Griffith University special education staff collaborated with an industry partner, CHI.L.D Association (Let's Talk Developmental Hub, http://www.letstalk.org.au/child-assoc.html) in Brisbane Australia to apply for nongovernment funding through Ian Potter Foundation (http://www.ianpotter.org.au/) to undertake a home-based intervention study in which preservice teachers partnered with families of young children with communication difficulties.Many young children with communication difficulties are unable to use language to share information about their needs, wishes, and concerns and typically have a poor understanding of what others say. Without intervention, these children face a host of problems, including a limited capacity to express emotions and the development of inappropriate behaviours, which in turn set a developmental trajectory for emotional problems across childhood [6]. In the preliminary planning phase, university and Let's Talk staff sent a Needs Assessment survey to all families with underschool-age children attending CHI.L.D's outreach clinic. The majority of responding parents (60%) identified the morning routine as an area of difficulty for their child and family. This result is not surprising because communication demands at this busy time of the day are typically high for all families. However, these parents, in addition to attending to the usual responsibilities, need to not only tell their child what to do so that the message is understood but also engage their child in completing self-care tasks within the routine (e.g., eating breakfast; getting dressed).Previous studies provided evidence that technology capable of providing pictorial prompts was effective in promoting i...
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