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Early intervention and therapy

 Quick Summary

Early intervention is support to children with disabilities, developmental delays or additional needs. It is provided to children and families from birth to until the child enters the school system. Starting as early as possible gives your child the best chance of achieving their potential. Early intervention is a combination of therapies and services. Therapies are the programs or sessions aimed at promoting your child’s development. Services are the places and organisations that offer these therapies. Having a diagnosis is important as it helps to target the therapies and services most suitable for your child’s specific needs. If you do not have a diagnosis, your doctor can refer you to a paediatrician, who can help you by identifying the developmental areas your child needs support in. They can then help to decide which early interventions will best target your child’s delays.

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Early Childhood Intervention is specialised support for children under 6 who have disabilities, developmental delay or additional needs. Children with disabilities get the most benefit when they have interventions and services early in life. Services which can be provided include speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and psychological therapy.

There are four key areas of a child’s development that early intervention focusses on:

– Physical (children’s bodies and brains);

– Cognitive (thinking processes);

– Behaviour;

– Social and emotional.

In Tasmania Early Intervention is available through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Here you will be connected with an early childhood partner to discuss the concerns you have about your child’s development. The childhood partner’s role is to provide you with information to help you understand and determine your child’s support needs. They will provide information and links to supports and services in your local community. They may also provide initial early childhood intervention supports if your child needs them. See Get Started for a handy video on the NDIS and early intervention.

It is useful to know what to look for when choosing an organization to provide supports and services to your child.

All therapies and services for children with disability should be

– family focused;

– well structured;

– evidence-based;

– developmentally appropriate.

A good service should include you in decision making about your child and respect your circumstance. It should support your child and the family to develop strategies, and work with you to build on your child’s strengths and areas of enjoyment. A quality service seeks to work with you and your family as a team, including other people involved in your child’s life such as your GP or childcare centre. Be prepared to work with services to develop positive relationships and keep communication open. You can see Get Started for more on what to look for in choosing service providers.

If your child is eligible for an NDIS plan, your early childhood partner will work with you to request NDIS access.  This can seem complicated, it is part of the role of the Early Childhood Partner to assist you in the process. Early intervention supports are available without NDIS participation, however if your child needs longer-term support, your early childhood partner might recommend applying for NDIS access. See Get Started for a link to our Finding Your Way article Accessing the NDIS for more information on the process of applying for NDIS access.

Speaking with your doctor or paediatrician if you are concerned about your child’s development is an important first step to helping your child with the appropriate intervention. For some, this can lead to a diagnosis, while for others who do not have a diagnosis or are waiting for one, your doctor, paediatrician or early child health nurse may be able to put a treatment plan in place to help your child’s development. See Get Started for more information on the getting a diagnosis.

GET STARTED

If you have not spoken with your doctor or seen a paediatrician this is your first step. Once you have done this you may or may not have a diagnosis. Either way, you can still contact the NDIS Early Childhood planner in your local area and make an appointment.

Check out our Finding Your Way article Diagnosis Process and Support for more information about getting a diagnosis.

Begin putting information together to take to the NDIS Early Childhood Planner. This helps the process to move smoothly. Include reports from your doctor or paediatrician, or any another assessments you may have. Create a profile of your child’s life and the family, this will assist the Early Childhood planner to work in a more family-focused way.

To learn more about how the NDIS can assist children with a disability or developmental delay under 7, take a look at their webpage The early childhood approach.

You may have already identified some your child’s needs and have an idea of what services and therapies might be needed. It is useful to make contact with services, drop in for a visit, this will give an opportunity to ‘get a feel for the place,’ and to gather information. It is important that you identify and choose the provider of the service for your child.

See our Finding Your Way article Choosing your providers for handy tips and information.

Also check out the Raising Children network’s excellent resource Quality in early childhood intervention for what a great service should look like.

Consider joining a peer support group such as MyTime to connect with other families who have been in similar situations.

ACTION STEPS

Here you can find a simple list of the best actions to take if you are interested in this topic:

1 .

Make contact with your doctor or paediatrician.

2 .

Begin to gather all the information you have on your child in the one place ready to take to any meetings or appointments.

3 .

Locate and check service providers that may be appropriate to your child’s needs.

4 .

Be prepared for your meeting with the NDIS. Make contact with peer groups and other families that have been through the process. You will find this support very useful.