Staff at Early Intervention
The service provided by the Early Intervention Team is a full and comprehensive therapy service of a very high standard including home practice and regular formal and informal follow-ups with parents. Staff provide extensive documentation and recording at all levels of service.
Parents are considered partners and are important team members. Training days and workshops are held throughout the year to assist parents to develop the skills to implement their child's progress at home and in other environments.
Early Intervention services are delivered by a multi-disciplinary team led by a Manager. The team consists of Program Support Managers, Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Early Childhood Teachers, Psychologists and Intervention Assistants. The following information outlines the key responsibilities of this experienced and effective team who address the particular needs of each child through their joint areas of expertise.
Manager of Early Intervention Services
The Manager is responsible to the Chief Executive Officer; ensuring the key performance standards for the organisation and the service are met. The Manager of Early Intervention has a clinical background in Occupational Therapy and an extensive history of working with children with autism and their families.
Program Support Managers
On a day-to-day basis the Program Support Manager/s will be responsible for the operation of the Early Intervention Program including staff supervision and coordination. Program Support Managers have a solid work history in teaching environments and have extensive training, development and implementation experience. They oversee the implementation of on-going training and development of families, staff and educators who are working with children with autism across environments. Program Support Managers report directly to the Manager of Early Intervention Services.
Speech Pathology
Speech Pathologists on the Early Intervention Team work with staff and families to review the communication characteristics of autism which impact on learning and participation of the individual child in the home, school and community. Speech Pathologists also support the training and development of staff and families in understanding the communicative functions of behaviour and the use of visual supports in supporting functional communication strategies across environments.
In addition to the diagnostic information, Speech Pathologists may also use a number of assessments to form a picture of each child's expressive and receptive communication skills. Verbal (spoken) and non-verbal communication (use of gesture and reading of body language) skills may also be observed and an individual baseline established from which to prioritise objectives. Pragmatic language assessments (how effectively children use words and gesture to communicate with others) are also included as part of a comprehensive ongoing team assessment.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy benefits a child with autism by endeavouring to improve optimal functioning of the child through the maintenance, improvement or introduction of skills necessary for the child to participate as independently as possible in meaningful life activities. Such skills include coping skills, fine motor skills, self-help skills, and socialisation and play skills.
The Occupational Therapist is also closely involved in managing sensory processing difficulties in the child with autism and liaises closely with other team members to provide strategies to enhance sensory processing and minimise behaviours related to sensory processing difficulties. All families at Early Intervention are required to complete a sensory profile of their child. The information from this profile is then fed back to parents and schools to support the child’s individual sensory needs within a functional context.
Early Childhood Teachers
Our Early Childhood Teachers have extensive experience working across key learning areas from Kindergarten to Year 3. Teachers support the centre operations and the implementation of individual program plans. Teachers will also work closely with families to help them advocate for their child across educational settings as well as helping to prepare the development of individual educational plans and assist in planning for transition to school.
Psychologists
In collaboration with the team, Psychologists advise on positive behaviour support strategies and the development of programs targeting independent living skills (e.g. toileting, feeding, and dressing) and independence in the classroom e.g. independent work, transitioning between activities, sitting and following routines. Psychologists work with staff and families of Early Intervention to provide information and links into community support services such as respite, parent support groups and counseling for parents and siblings.
Intervention Assistants
Intervention Assistants carry out the individual programs developed and monitored by the clinical team. They work directly with the children in group, play and individual work sessions and document and record the children’s programs, providing feedback on progress to case managers. Intervention Assistants are also responsible for providing direct feedback to families about the child’s performance for the session. They are highly skilled staff from various backgrounds including early childhood and primary school Teachers/Education Assistants, Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Teaching and Psychology students.
