Parents are the first and most important people in any child’s life and they play a critical role in the development of their communication, educational and social development skills. This practice is very family-focused and all efforts are made to work with children in conjunction with their family, including opportunities to observe and work with them in familiar settings such as home, childcare, pre-school or school.
One session of therapy per week or fortnight by itself does not generally make the desired difference in a child’s skills whether their difficulties are to do with speech, language, wellbeing or a mix of issues. There is an expectation within this practice (or a hope at least) that parents, educational staff and significant others in a child’s life will be involved with their therapy goals and as a result, these are communicated with the full range of people involved subject to permission from the primary caregiver.
Assessment and therapy sessions are conducted with the parent or carer present and intervention is targeted to be relevant to their day to day activities as this usually results in the best transfer of skills. This is a well-resourced practice and as well as encouraging parents to utilise services such as book and toy libraries, informal lending arrangements for games, toys and materials relevant to the child’s goals, operates within the practice.
For school-aged children, where the assessment or therapy may take place in their educational setting, phone, email and communications books are all methods used to keep parents involved and informed as to their child’s needs and progress. There is no additional charge for these services as they are considered fundamental to any child’s progress.
What happens after you phone or email?
A real person, including, if possible, a Senior Staff Member will respond to any initial contact personally and if you choose to access the services of this practice, the following will or might happen:
- An appointment for an initial consultations and/or assessment will be arranged
- Both Psychologists and Speech Pathologists working within the practice have a range of different skills and, subject to the age of your child or needs of your adult client, the area of concern and availability of the relevant professional, you will be placed with the best person to meet your child’s needs
- Questionnaires regarding your concerns may be sent to you, teachers and carers etc. prior to the assessment to ensure that a full picture of your needs is being obtained.
- Costs will be explained if you are not already familiar with them
- You will be encouraged to confirm your private health cover or (if appropriate) explore the Medicare Enhanced Primary Care Package or Mental Health Care Plan(psychology clients only) and/or the National Disability Insurance Scheme
- You may be eligible to receive Carers allowance from Centre-link which is provided to support families in meeting the costs of communication or therapy for children with significant needs
- The practice has HICAPS/EFTPOS machines in each office and health insurance claims for most funds can be made at the time of payment
- Following the assessment or at a time which is negotiated with you, a full written report will be provided. This report is included as a part of the initial consultation fee and is not an additional charge.
- Arrangements for ongoing therapy are made based on your capacity to afford and attend sessions, although cancellation fees may apply if you fail to attend a session without reasonable notice.
- Discounts are available for low-income families who have proof of low-income health care card.
Our practice is registered with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Please use their access checker at www.ndis.gov.au to see if you may be eligible for this service.
Further information is available in the other areas of this website so please feel free to explore or download the current brochure for later reading.